A man from Sutton who carried out a 13-hour masturbation spree on trains was released early from prison but has now been sent back after turning up drunk to his first probation meeting.
Roman Scott, 35, was sentenced to 17 months in September 2025 for public indecency offences. He was released on 1 October as part of an early release scheme, less than a week after his sentencing on 25 September.
Offences on trains and in a toilet
The offences took place in December 2024, when Scott spent 13 hours exposing himself and masturbating in front of women on several trains. In one incident, passengers removed him from a train after he flashed two women. In another, he exposed himself to a woman after sneaking into a ladies' toilet.
On a train to Manchester, he sat next to a young woman, trapping her in her seat, and began masturbating. The woman and fellow passengers reported the incident to the train guard, but Scott continued, flashing and making sexual advances towards another woman.
When police arrested him, he said: "Drinking just gets the better of me sometimes."
Recall to prison
Scott, of Brunswick Road in Sutton, was sentenced for the December exposure, further exposure offences, and failing to comply with sex offenders' register notification requirements, according to Salisbury Crown Court.
Because he had been held on remand since March, he qualified for early release. On the day of his release, he arrived "intoxicated" at his first probation appointment, where he fell asleep "lying across chairs in the waiting area", a probation officer told Croydon Magistrates' Court.
The officer said Scott was "released at 10am and attended PDU (Probation Delivery Unit) at 3.30pm", where he appeared "intoxicated" and dozed off. The officer added: "He appeared confused, disoriented and under the influence of alcohol. He also made inappropriate comments and remarks to staff."
The officer continued: "Due to his presentation, the appointment could not safely proceed and was terminated. His behaviour indicates an increased likelihood of further offending and poses a risk to the public. Recall is therefore considered necessary for the public to prevent further reoffending."
Scott contacted probation on 7 October asking for "one more chance" and was told to surrender at a police station as he had been recalled. An arrest warrant was issued the next day after he failed to appear in court. He was later captured by the Metropolitan Police and is back in prison.
Wider concerns over early release
Met Police Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams has written to politicians urging them to reject the early release programme, saying officers are repeatedly arresting the same offenders only to see them released again.
Det Ch Supt Williams wrote: "While the Met fully recognises that the Government is dealing with significant pressures across the criminal justice system, and there are no easy options, we cannot allow those pressures simply to be transferred onto policing with no recognition."
He added: "It is also disheartening for officers to repeatedly arrest the same offenders, only to see them released back into the community and reoffending again. Furthermore, this is not just a localised issue with similar cases occurring across London, where people are released, only for their cycle of offending to immediately start again. I, along with other officers from across the Met are concerned this will only get worse as more people are released early."
A Government spokesperson said: "This offender is rightly back in custody. We inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse, and had we failed to act, the police would have been forced to halt arrests, putting victims and communities at untold risk."
The spokesperson added: "To protect the public, we're putting thousands more neighbourhood police officers on our streets, introducing the toughest-ever licence controls, expanding electronic tagging, investing in probation at record levels, and delivering 14,000 more prison places."
