A footballer who sexually assaulted a stranger on a train by squeezing his testicles has been spared jail. Ali Abboud, 39, was fined £1,000 and placed on the sex offenders' register for five years after being found guilty of the assault, which left the 65-year-old victim “shocked and angry”.
Incident on Glasgow-to-Perth service
The assault took place on a 23.10 Saturday night service from Glasgow to Perth on April 19, 2025. The victim, who was returning from a comedy club evening with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law, got up to leave the train at Stirling. As he passed a table where Abboud was travelling with a “noisy” group drinking alcohol from plastic cups, Abboud reached into the aisle, grabbed him between the legs, and started squeezing.
The victim, who slapped Abboud with the back of his hand to make him stop, said: “He grabbed my penis and my balls.” He added that he had had “no interaction whatsoever” with Abboud before his intimate parts were seized through his clothing.
Court proceedings and sentence
At a summary trial at Stirling Sheriff Court, Abboud, of Uist Place, Perth, was found guilty of sexual assault. He had denied the charge, but the assault was captured on CCTV, and he was arrested after British Transport Police circulated his picture to the media. The footage showed him laughing and sticking out his tongue during the assault, and after the man left the train, he gave his table companions an action replay of cupping and grabbing his victim before slapping himself on the back of the head.
Abboud, a self-employed electrician who played as striker for Perth-based Jeanfield Swifts Amateurs, appeared for sentence today. His defence solicitor, Virgil Crawford, said: “He was under the influence of alcohol on a late-night train after a day out in Glasgow. He has learned his lesson. He is a working man living with his partner and two children.”
Sheriff's rebuke and background
Sheriff Euan Gosney told Abboud: “Your behaviour was deeply inappropriate. It evidently caused [the man on the receiving end] a great deal of distress.”
Abboud's career highlights for Jeanfield Swifts Amateurs include scoring the opener and a hat-trick in a pre-season 14-0 win against Ballinluig FC in 2022, only hours after being caught with crack cocaine and cannabis when police raided his Perth flat in an offence which led to a £500 fine.
