Meron Habtu, 29, an Eritrean asylum seeker, has been sentenced to one year in prison after sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl on a train in Dorset. The incident occurred on 11 September 2022 on the train route from Bournemouth to Weymouth.
Habtu had falsely claimed to be a minor, stating he was 17 years old, in order to be housed with a host family in Dorset. This deception allowed him to live within the local community under the pretense of being a child.
Habtu arrived illegally in the UK in 2020 and made the false age claim upon arrival. Prior to this offence, he was already on bail for a previous sexual offence.
In 2021, Habtu sexually assaulted a drunk woman outside clubs in Weymouth. Despite this, he was released on bail before being arrested for the assault on the teenage girl on the train.
The court heard that Habtu blocked the teenager after she left the toilet carriage, pinned her against the wall while calling himself “the tracker,” and touched her breast multiple times over her clothing. Habtu denied the charge but was convicted following trial proceedings at Poole Magistrates’ Court.
During sentencing, Habtu was described as a high-risk predator who failed to comply with previous court orders. He received a one-year custodial sentence, was placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years, and was given a five-year sexual harm prevention order. Deportation remains a possible outcome.
Originally published by UKNIP.
