Man admits to sexually assaulting woman while Queen was lying in line | UK News

A 20-year-old man has admitted to sexually assaulting a young woman who was waiting in line to attend the Queen’s lying state by exposing himself and shoving him from behind.

Adesina Adio, from the southeast Londonjumped into the Thames to avoid arrest after assaulting a woman waiting in line to pay tribute to the late monarch at Victoria Tower Gardens. detained.

Addio has eight convictions on 29 offenses, including a recent sex offense, and has also violated the Sexual Harassment Prevention Order (SHPO).

He targeted the victims on the night of September 14, when Westminster Hall was first opened to the public. The woman, whose name cannot be named for legal reasons, had never seen Addio in line, so she noticed Addio.

Prosecutor Alex Adwale told the court that she felt him “pushing in” and “felt something touching her back.” She saw him exposed.

Despite being “extremely concerned,” she didn’t want Addio to know the fact that she realized what he was doing. I saw him approach a woman, expose himself, and push himself into her.

The young woman and her sister tried to create a barrier to prevent Addio from reaching others in line and alerted security guards who called the police.

At this point, Addio was described as “trying to undress”. He threw his mobile phone into the Thames and dove “in an attempt to evade the police before they came out after a while”.

The court heard that Addio had “complicated mental health issues” and had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

He initially denied the sexual assault but later pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young woman and violating the SHPO, which prohibits touching or exposing oneself in public.

However, he denied further charges of sexually assaulting a “stranger woman”.

At an earlier hearing, Adowale warned in court that Adio “posed a real threat to members of the public – women.”

District Attorney Anita Arora hopes the successful prosecution of Addio will encourage others affected by this type of assault to come forward. He described it as “disgusting” and added:

“The incident was extremely distressing for the victim and her family who were with her at the time, and she acted with poise and courage.”