A “dangerous” sex offender with more than 90 criminal convictions has been jailed for groping a teenage girl on a train.
Matthew Lewis, 55, who has 95 convictions for 251 previous offences, was locked up at Canterbury Crown Court after a judge condemned his “truly appalling” criminal record and “frightening and repellent” attack on the child.
The predator was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.
Lewis persistently asked two 16-year-old girls on a train for a drink and to run away with him during a journey on Thursday 3 June, 2021.
The victim and her friend boarded the train at 9.30pm at Margate station in Kent when Lewis approached them.
The drunken sex offender made repeated inappropriate comments despite the girls telling him they were only 16.
He then sat down next to the victim and sexually assaulted her.
A man sat nearby noticed the girls’ discomfort and confronted Lewis, while another group of passengers called for the girls to join them further down the carriage.
The girls got off the train at Rainham, a 45-minute train journey from Margate.
Lewis followed them, and the girls pointed him out to two members of rail staff who reported the offence to British Transport Police (BTP). Officers arrested Lewis at Rainham.
Because he appeared intoxicated he was in breach of a criminal behaviour order handed to him for previous offences on the railway which restricted him from travelling drunk on a train.
Lewis’s victim attended his sentencing hearing at Canterbury Crown Court and described the aftermath of his “repellent and frightening” actions.
She and the court heard prosecutor Anoushka Twining further describe Lewis’s crime.
Ms Twining said: “Mr Lewis approached two young females while drunk, and he’s said to have made comments towards them.
“The girls removed themselves from their location towards other passengers and Mr Lewis sat next to them.
“He has then placed his hand on the victim’s leg and stroked in an upward direction. This was on bare skin.”
The court heard Lewis had a “truly appalling” criminal record with one previous conviction for exposure.
Further, he was discovered drunk at on a train at Faversham station, also in Kent, just a month after the sexual assault incident.
Ms Twining said he was “asleep or unconscious lying next to a bottle of wine”, and covered with vomit. A member of staff attempted to escort him from the station but Lewis threatened to punch him. When he was arrested he was carrying amphetamines.
He had been released from HMP Elmley just months earlier, and gave police a false address, breaching notification requirements.
Lewis, of Sittingbourne, Kent, had pleaded guilty to sexual assault, breaching criminal behaviour orders, failing to comply with notification requirements and possession of a class B drug at Folkestone Magistrates Court in May.
Sentencing, Judge Mark Weekes remarked on Lewis’s persistent offences, as the defendant appeared remotely from HMP Elmley.
He said: “You made it virtually your mission in life to disobey those terms [of the criminal behaviour orders].”
He declared the sexual assault a frightening and repellent act on a brave girl, which left a profound effect on her.
The judge described his record as “truly appalling.” He said: “You were drunk and you were seen to be slurring your words.
“As a result of that, you approached two young girls, and one of them you sexually assaulted in a most unpleasant fashion.
“You were stroking her right leg in an upward direction.”
Phil Rowley, in mitigation, said Lewis had “particularly acute” difficulties with alcohol that cause disorderly and chaotic behaviour.
He added that Lewis wanted to apologise to his victim.
Detective Constable Stephen Gadd, of BTP welcomed the custodial sentence. He said: “Lewis is a dangerous individual who subjected a young girl to extremely unacceptable sexual behaviour, and I’m pleased to see him behind bars.
“His actions left the victim and her friend feeling hugely distressed, and I want to thank them for bravely reporting the incident and supporting our investigation.
“No one should experience such vile behaviour as they travel.”
SWNS
