A mum has demanded enhanced safety measures on train services after her 16-year-old daughter was reportedly sexually assaulted and intimidated by an older man during an evening journey.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, revealed her daughter was returning home with a mate from Liverpool city centre to Headbolt Lane station last Thursday evening (September 17). She explained the girls were confronted by an older man who seemed intoxicated after he boarded the train at Sandhills Station.
She revealed: "While on the train, my daughter and her friend were approached by an older man who appeared to be drunk. He proceeded to intimidate my daughter and then touched her inappropriately.
Man offered to walk girls home
"The man and his friend even offered to walk my daughter and her friend home, despite my daughter telling them that she was only 15. She told them that her dad was picking them up, and thankfully the men got off the train at Kirkby. I dread to think what could have happened if they had followed the girls off the train."
She revealed her daughter felt "completely helpless" and insisted there was "no security presence or staff on the train", adding: "She did not feel that there was anywhere she could safely turn for immediate help."
The distressed mum revealed that the incident has deeply affected her young daughter. She said: "When my daughter got off the train, she immediately broke down in tears. The incident has had a significant impact on her confidence and sense of safety. She has been too frightened to attend college and is now scared to use the train."
Family reports repeated incidents
She further disclosed that this was not an isolated incident for her family, explaining that all three of her daughters have reported instances of intimidating or inappropriate behaviour on the local rail network.
She continued: "This has left me deeply concerned that women and girls may not feel safe using these services, particularly during the evening." She has voiced these concerns in an email to local authorities, including Mayor Steve Rotheram. She reported the incident to British Transport Police at the time, who are currently investigating.
Mayor vows to investigate
The ECHO presented these concerns to the Mayor, who pledged to bring together various organisations to probe the incident. Mayor Rotheram stated: "I am going to speak to the lady who contacted me, because there are a few things that concern me.
"We need to see that if there was nobody on board the train, what the explanation is for that. We have something called a second, safety-critical person on board every train. No train can pull out of a Merseyrail station without the driver and what is now called a train manager, used to be a guard.
"That person works within the carriages and they have to be there at all times. So I don't know what has gone on there, but we will be asking Merseyrail to investigate this and we will be looking at the CCTV that we have on board."
He added: "This needs to be properly investigated and we need to find the individual involved, so we are asking British Transport Police, Merseyrail and other authorities to take this very seriously and see if we can locate this individual. We will step up the visibility of our staff to make sure people feel safe. I am the father of two girls, so this is very important to me."
Operators and police respond
A spokesperson for Merseyrail said: "We take every report of violence against women and girls extremely seriously. We are working closely with the British Transport Police and will support their investigation in any way we can. Everyone has the right to travel safely and confidently on our network, and we do not tolerate harassment, abuse, intimidation or any form of inappropriate behaviour towards passengers."
"Keeping our passengers safe is our highest priority, and we have a number of measures in place across the network to help protect vulnerable passengers and provide reassurance to those travelling with us. These include 24/7 monitored CCTV coverage at all stations and on every train, members of staff on every train, colleagues present at 65 of our 69 stations, well-lit stations, help points at every outer-station and on every train that can be used in an emergency to speak directly to a member of our team."
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: "We received a report of a sexual assault on a train at Kirkby at around 9.30pm on Thursday 17 September. Detectives quickly made contact and began an investigation, and continue to update the victim and their family with their progress. Enquiries are ongoing, and anyone who witnessed what happened can text 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 736 of 17 September."
