Sex attacker jailed and banned from Tube

A sex attacker who targeted women on the London Underground in "vigorous and frenzied" assaults was jailed for three years today and banned from the Tube.

Colin Franklin attacked three young women by grabbing their breasts aggressively while they were getting on or off trains at stations in the capital in September 2008.

Jailing him for three years, Judge Peter Testar said Franklin was not just indecently assaulting women on the Tube but was unusual in that he was "actively trying to draw attention to himself" at the same time.

The judge said: "These offences are undoubtedly so serious that a custodial sentence is appropriate."

London's Southwark Crown Court heard how several assessments of Franklin found he was unsuitable for group treatment or for a mental health order.

But the judge invoked a Sexual Offences Prevention Order which bans the 44-year-old from entering, remaining on, or using any London Underground or Docklands Light Railway station or train for five years upon his release from prison.

Franklin, of Croydon Road in Beckenham, Kent, has already served 433 days of his sentence on remand so will be released "within weeks", the court heard.