An Eritrean asylum seeker allegedly cornered a terrified 15-year-old girl on a train and told her she was 'really beautiful' before sexually assaulting her, a magistrates' court heard.
Meron Habtu, 29, blocked the teenager's way as she left a toilet and told her she was 'really beautiful and pretty,' Poole Magistrates heard yesterday. The victim told the man she was 15 and not interested before walking back to where she and her friend were sitting on the train travelling from Poole to Weymouth, Dorset.
Habtu, who 'smelt of alcohol' and was slurring his words, is said to have followed her before blocking her path and allegedly touching her breasts three or four times. He also stroked the girl's face and tried to force his phone into her hands before she escaped from him in tears on September 11, 2022, the court was told.
Leah Dillon, prosecuting, said: 'The victim got up to go to the toilet and as she came out she described a black man standing outside close to it. She tried to walk past the man, but he wouldn't let her and was telling her she was really beautiful and pretty. He asked for her number, and she said she didn't have her phone. She tried to get back to her carriage, but he followed her into the vestibule between carriages, and she says then he touched her breasts three or four times and stroked her face. She says he smelt of alcohol. She managed to get back to her friend, and the girls spoke to the train guard.'
The alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that Habtu made her feel 'terrified' during the encounter. She said she refused to get on a train for a year afterwards and still 'dreads' using public transport to this day. She told the court: 'I had to duck to go under his arm as he was stood right in front of the toilet door. He told me I was pretty and beautiful and asked for my phone number multiple times. I felt very uncomfortable, and by the time I got to the wobbly bit of the train, he cornered me so I couldn't get to the door. I told him to stop, I was 15 and had a boyfriend, but he tried to put his phone in my hands and touched my breasts three or four times. I was terrified and just wanted to get back to my seat. By the time I got back to it, I was crying. I still dread going on public transport.'
Ken Sharpe, defending, suggested that Habtu had accidentally touched her breasts after losing his balance and had no sexual intentions. However, the victim responded that she was 'certain' the Eritrean man had intended to do it.
The victim's friend told the court the girl 'immediately burst into tears and kept saying how he was touching her'. 'I tried to comfort her, but she was quite distressed, so we moved carriages to get more distance from him (Habtu),' she said.
Meanwhile, train guard Chris Batterby was approached by the girls at Dorchester Railway Station following the incident. The two teenage girls told him that Habtu had made 'sexual advances' towards one of them. He said that when he confronted the Eritrean man, he could smell alcohol on his breath, and he was slurring his words. 'I asked him if he had been talking to the girls and he denied it,' he said. 'He was unsteady, appeared intoxicated and with slightly slurred words.'
Habtu, who had an interpreter, informed the court that he was homeless but had to report to immigration services twice a month. He denies a charge of sexual assault. The trial continues.
