Nigerian sex offender jailed for train masturbation

A registered sex offender has been jailed after exposing himself and masturbating in front of a lone woman on a train heading to Manchester.
Babatunde Odutola, 36, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 44 weeks in prison at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 14 September.

He pleaded guilty to outraging public decency and breaching a suspended sentence order.

The offence took place around 7pm on Friday, 11 September, on a service travelling through Cheshire towards Manchester Piccadilly. British Transport Police said Odutola approached the woman, looked her up and down, and became aggressive when she declined to engage with him.

He then exposed himself while seated in a wheelchair and began masturbating, staring at her and telling her to “come over.” A fellow passenger intervened and led the distressed woman out of the carriage to safety. CCTV footage later showed Odutola continuing the act as other passengers walked through the carriage.

Officers arrested him when the train arrived at Manchester Piccadilly. He was prosecuted and sentenced within 72 hours of the incident.

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Detective Constable Leonidas Christoforou of British Transport Police described Odutola as “clearly an incredibly dangerous individual.” He said the behaviour “must have been terrifying for the victim, who he singled out when she was travelling on her own.”

Christoforou noted that Odutola showed little remorse and initially denied the allegations in interview. CCTV and witness accounts provided strong evidence, leading to the guilty plea. The detective added that this was not a one-off: Odutola was already a registered sex offender.

The suspended sentence he breached had been imposed for three counts of exposure committed over three days in Runcorn in July.

“This type of alarming, predatory behaviour simply will not be tolerated on our railways,” Christoforou said. “Holding vile offenders like him to account is a number one priority for us as a force and we’re tireless in our efforts to bring them to justice.”

British Transport Police urged anyone who experiences or witnesses similar incidents to report them by texting 61016.

The swift conviction underlines ongoing efforts by transport police to tackle sexual offences on the rail network.