A man has been jailed after performing a sex act in front of a woman as she travelled alone on a London Underground train.
Mukesh Shah, 43, of Primrose Way in Wembley, has been sentenced to nine months in prison for the "frightening" and "disgusting" incident, which happened late at night on November 4, 2022.
The victim was travelling alone in a Piccadilly line carriage between Sudbury Town and Acton Town when Shah boarded around 11.40pm.
Despite the carriage being otherwise empty, he sat down diagonally opposite the victim.
She noticed him staring at her, making her feel uncomfortable.
"It was then that she noticed he was exposing himself and masturbating," said a British Transport Police (BTP) spokesperson on Tuesday."Bravely, the victim captured Shah on camera hoping it would deter him.
"When he didn’t, she confronted him and told him to stop and move away from her. He protested he hadn’t done anything wrong but moved along the carriage."
The woman reported what had happened and sent the video to BTP. It was then circulated within the police, and Shah was identified.
He was sentenced to nine months in prison for indecent exposure at London Inner Crown Court on December 18.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years, and subjected to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Mark Luker said: "This was a frightening and upsetting experience for the victim and I commend her bravery in confronting the offender, managing to capture an image of Shah and reporting this.
"Shah’s disgusting actions have not only secured him time behind bars, but restrictions following his release to prevent him from repeating his actions in the future.
"We will always take reports of sexual offences seriously and will do everything in our power to bring offenders to justice. I urge anyone who sees or experiences this behaviour to report it to British Transport Police by texting 61016, via the Railway Guardian app, or via 999 in an emergency."
