Salman Yousaf, a 46-year-old predator who sexually assaulted sleeping women on night Tube services, has been jailed after being identified while already in prison for another crime.
Crimes Spanning 2017 to 2021
Yousaf committed a series of sexual assaults between 2017 and 2021. His first offence occurred around 5am on March 11, 2017, when he masturbated in front of a woman on a Central Line service near Stratford. He went on to sexually assault another eight women on Central and Jubilee line services, targeting lone women who had fallen asleep on night Tubes.
How He Was Caught
Yousaf was already in prison in 2024 when the Metropolitan Police alerted British Transport Police (BTP) about his identity and modus operandi. BTP then reviewed unsolved crimes and linked Yousaf to the assaults. Investigators had previously struggled to identify him due to a lack of on-train CCTV footage and the fact that he did not swipe in or out at ticket barriers for several offences.
Conviction and Sentence
Yousaf admitted eight counts of sexual assault and one of outraging public decency. At Inner London Crown Court on May 20, he was jailed and ordered to spend an additional four years on licence after release. He was also placed on the sexual offenders register for life and issued with a sexual harm prevention order.
Police Statement
BTP Detective Constable Iryna Cuthbert said: "Salman Yousaf is a calculated predator who deliberately exploited the night-time rail network to target lone women, using their isolation to commit a series of premeditated crimes. Even when confronted, he showed a complete lack of remorse – the same absence of remorse he demonstrated at his sentencing."
DC Cuthbert added: "Thanks to the information provided by our colleagues at the Metropolitan Police, we were able to link him to a catalogue of vile sexual offending and ultimately extend his stay behind bars beyond 2030. Yousaf's crimes will have a lasting impact on the women he targeted. I want to acknowledge their bravery in coming forward and reporting what happened, and I hope his sentence brings them some measure of justice."
