A man has been sentenced after sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl at a train station.

Today Ben Hooper of Neal Road, West Kingsdown, was sentenced by the judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to a 200-hour community order.

On Saturday, June 11 2022, the victim was on a Girl Guiding trip when the group stopped to eat at McDonald’s in Victoria Place shopping centre, in London Victoria train station.

CCTV footage shows Hooper observe the victim before following her and a friend of similar age into Boots and sexually assaulting her at around 2.50pm.

He quickly left the scene via the underground station, and the victim reported the incident to a member of staff who then called police.

Two days after, detectives released CCTV stills of Hooper to the media and an overwhelming response from the press and public meant that he was quickly identified and arrested at his home address.

In his police interview, Hooper answered no comment to every question he was asked.

On September 26, Hooper pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child under thirteen.

He has now been granted a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years which forbids him from having any contact with a child under 16 without explicit consent of their parents.

He has also been issued with a restraining order which means he cannot contact the victim or her family.

Detective Constable Tony Gittins said: "This was a truly sickening incident which involved Hooper preying on a young child and brazenly sexually assaulting her in a public place.

"It’s hard to imagine how traumatic this would have been for a 10-year-old to experience, and I would like to pay tribute to the victim for the courage and maturity she has shown throughout this investigation which has ultimately led to Hooper being identified and brought before the courts.

"We have a zero-tolerance approach to sexual offences of any kind on the railway network and we will always thoroughly investigate such reports to bring offenders like this to justice.

"If anyone experiences or witnesses such behaviour while travelling I would urge them to text us on 61016 or call 999 in an emergency."