Police appeal for man to come forward after passenger 'touched himself while filming woman' on London Underground

British Transport Police released this picture of a man they want to speak to

(REUTERS/Luke Macgregor )

Police are searching for a man “touching himself inappropriately” while appearing to film a woman on the London Underground.

The 34-year-old woman was travelling on the Central Line on 19 June when she noticed her fellow passenger acting strangely.

Detective Constable Suleman Yazdani, from British Transport Police (BTP) said: “(She) became aware of a man standing close to her, pointing a mobile phone in her direction.

“He was tapping on the phone, giving the impression he was texting, but was not looking at the screen.

“She noticed from the reflection in the window behind the man that he had enabled his phone’s camera, and that he appeared to be touching himself inappropriately.”

The train had been travelling east from Oxford Circus and the woman moved away from the man until he got off at Bank at around 9pm.

BTP have released a picture of a man they want to speak to in connection to the incident.

DC Yazdani said: “Behaviour like this is rare on the Underground, and we work hard with our partners at TfL to ensure those responsible are identified and brought before a court.

“It is vital that people report all incidents of unwanted sexual behaviour to us. We need the public to help us with this case.”

The force is currently running an anti-sexual harassment campaign called “Report it to Stop It” urging passengers to report unwanted behaviour.

A survey by Transport for London revealed that while one in 10 Londoners said they had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport, more than 90 per cent did not report it to the police.

Update:

Following the appeal, a 38-year-old man from London voluntarily visited a police station on Tuesday and was interviewed.

He has been reported for the offence of outraging public decency and released, BTP said.

Detective Constable Suleman Yazdani said: “I would like to thank the media and the public for their assistance with this appeal."