Sex predator Malcolm Schwartz banned from Underground after 4 assaults on Central Line passengers

PUBLISHED: 12:38 14 March 2018 | UPDATED: 13:56 15 March 2018

Mike Brooke

Malcolm Schwartz... sex predator banned from London Underground and given suspended jail sentence. Picture sources: BT Police/Archant

BT Police/Archant

Transport police patrol Central line for public safety. Picture: Mike Brooke

Malcolm Schwartz, 19, was handed a 62-week sentence on Monday, suspended for two years, and a Sexual Offences Prevention Order putting him on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

His assaults were on crowded Central line trains between December and January during the busy rush hour.

The first was on a train approaching Bethnal Green heading towards the City at 8.30am on December 14 when he exposed himself to a 26-year-old, pressing into her.

Schwartz returned on January 8, targeting two woman aged 23 and 28 between Liverpool Street and Bank stations, pressing against them and touching one of them.

Bethnal Green on the Central line where sex predator Malcolm Schwartz targeted women passengers.. Picture: Mike Brooke

The fourth incident was at Bethnal Green where he stood closely behind a woman, touching her inappropriately.

Transport Police were able to build a picture of Schwartz from details given by his four victims which led to his identity and arrest.

He admitted what he had done and later pleaded guilty at Blackfriars Crown Court to four charges of sexual assault.

“Schwartz’s behaviour was perverse,” Det Con Thomas O’Regan said after the sentence.

“Everyone should be free to travel without a man like Schwartz targeting them. His conduct was outrageous—but we caught him.”

Transport police are urging women passengers to report any such behaviour, giving details which can later trace perpetrators.

Transport for London, the authority running the Underground network, stresses it has a “zero tolerance” policy on sexual assaults.

Its Transport Policing chief Siwan Hayward said: “The actions of Schwartz were demeaning, unacceptable and intimidating.

“We don’t tolerate unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport and commend those who came forward to report what they saw, which helped catch Schwartz for his offensive, disgusting crimes.”

Schwartz, from Kingsground in Eltham, south-east London, is barred by the Sexual Offences court order from travelling on the Underground and DLR and forbidden to sit next to a woman on her own who he doesn’t know.