'It beggars belief': Judge condemns Sheffield man caught committing sex act while on train

The incident took place on a train travelling between Doncaster and Meadowhall at around 1.40pm on Monday, April 16, 2022, prosecutor, Jennifer Pender, told Sheffield Magistrates’ Court during a hearing held on March 1, 2023.

Ms Pender said a train conductor found defendant, Andrew Ford sat in a carriage with his trousers down, ‘exposing himself’; and he could also be seen committing a sex act upon himself.

Sentencing Ford, of White Thorns View, Batemoor, district judge, Tim Spruce, described Ford’s criminal behaviour as the sort of crime the court ‘rarely sees’.

He continued: “You exposed yourself for your own gratification...there could have been anyone on that train, including children, who would have been impacted by what they observed.

“It beggars belief that you have chosen to do this in public.”

Judge Ford said it was only ‘by the grace of God that no-one travelling on that train at the same time has seen what was going on’.

“The conductor reported the incident and the defendant was arrested at Sheffield railway station,” Ms Pender told the court.

Ford was charged with an offence of outraging public decency following his arrest. He pleaded guilty to the offence during the course of the sentencing hearing at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.

Defending, Simon Greaves, said Ford ‘accepts that his behaviour was completely unacceptable,’ adding that Ford ‘had consumed alcohol’ prior to the incident taking place, and had caught the train to travel home after a weekend away.

Mr Greaves said Ford has previously struggled with ‘substance difficulties’ but was now on a ‘stable footing’ with treatment, and has also become a father in the last fortnight.

Passing sentence, Judge Ford said that while he accepted Ford was ‘under the influence of alcohol’ when he exposed himself and committed the solo sex act, it was not ‘mitigation’ for his criminal behaviour.

The judge also acknowledged that while Ford does have previous convictions, he has not troubled the courts since 2014; and the other matters on his criminal record are of a dissimilar nature.

He sentenced Ford to 10 weeks’ custody, suspended for 12 months.

Ford was also ordered to pay £213, comprised of £85 in costs and a surcharge of £128.

As he left the dock, Ford said: “Thank you very much.”

Speaking after Ford was sentenced, a spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “There is absolutely no place for sexual harassment or sexual offences on the network, and we are working tirelessly to stamp out this unacceptable behaviour.

“We have enhanced patrols of uniformed and specially trained plain clothes officers across the railway day and night to catch offenders and reassure passengers as they travel. If you experience or witness this type of offending on the railway, we urge you to report it to us by texting 61016 or via the Railway Guardian app. In an emergency always dial 999.”