Night Tube predator who sexually assaulted sleeping women is jailed

A predator who prowled the Night Tube system targeting women who had fallen asleep has finally been caught.

Salman Yousaf, 46, was already in prison in 2024 when the Met Police tipped off colleagues in the British Transport Police (BTP) about his identity and method of offending.

BTP trawled through unsolved cases where no suspect had been identified and discovered Yousaf had committed a series of sexual assaults between 2017 and 2021.

He admitted eight counts of sexual assault and one of outraging public decency and was jailed at Inner London Crown Court on May 20.

Yousaf was also placed on the sexual offenders register for life and placed under a sexual harm prevention order.

BTP said investigators had not managed to identify him earlier because of a lack of on-train CCTV footage and the fact that he had not swiped in or out at ticket barriers when several of the offences were committed.

His first crime was around 5am on March 11, 2017, when he masturbated in front of a woman on a Central Line service near Stratford.

Yousaf went on to sexually assault another eight women on Central and Jubilee line services, singling out those who were on their own and had fallen asleep on night Tubes.

BTP Detective Constable Iryna Cuthbert said: ‘Salman Yousaf is a calculated predator who deliberately exploited the night-time rail network to target lone women, using their isolation to commit a series of premeditated crimes.

‘Even when confronted, he showed a complete lack of remorse – the same absence of remorse he demonstrated at his sentencing.

‘Thanks to the information provided by our colleagues at the Metropolitan Police, we were able to link him to a catalogue of vile sexual offending and ultimately extend his stay behind bars beyond 2030.

‘Yousaf’s crimes will have a lasting impact on the women he targeted.

‘I want to acknowledge their bravery in coming forward and reporting what happened, and I hope his sentence brings them some measure of justice.’

Yousaf was serving a prison term after targeting another woman who had fallen asleep on the Tube, leading her away from the station and sexually assaulting her in a road near West Ham station.

He was jailed for seven and a half years after a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court for sexual assault and sexual assault by penetration.

Met detectives tracked CCTV from the night of the attack, piecing together Yousaf’s movements and discovering he frequently used Forest Gate station.

They spoke to staff there and identified him, leading to his arrest.

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