A POLICE officer was sexually assaulted by another man as he slept on a train.

The victim, who was travelling home after a night out in London, dozed while Alan Homewood performed a sex act on him. The officer was only aware of what had happened when the guard told him.

A judge at Maidstone Crown Court imposed, "with hesitation", a 12-month sentence suspended for two years and said had the victim been a woman, he wondered if anyone would dare suggest a non-custodial sentence.

The jury heard the incident happened one night last September, after the officer had had several drinks and, concerned he might fall asleep on the journey from Victoria to Maidstone, asked the guard if he would wake him at his station.

He sat in a first-class carriage next to the conductor’s cab and dozed off. Shortly after midnight, the guard looked through a spy hole and saw Homewood, 42, from East Malling, sitting next to the officer performing a sex act.

Peter Forbes, prosecuting, said when the guard confronted Homewood, he had a look of horror on his face.

Asked what he was doing, he replied: "Nothing. I am just having a laugh." He then walked off down the corridor. The victim was still asleep.

Ian Dear, defending, said Homewood, a design engineer, had always been embarrassed about being homosexual and that alcohol, his sexuality and being on the train late at night was a "potent cocktail".

He added: "It is the first time he has done this. It is a one-off moment of madness."

Mr Dear said the victim suffered significant violation and huge embarrassment and added: "It could have had a far more devastating effect on a more vulnerable victim."

Homewood’s partner watched from the public gallery as Judge Michael Lawson, QC, said: "It is a horrific thing, whether it is a male or a female. If it had been a female, it seems to me there would be no question of a suspended sentence – and that doesn’t seem right.

"It is difficult to conceive of any grosser violation than to do something while a person is asleep. To do it in a public place is an aggravating feature."

Judge Lawson said Homewood had to learn to respect other people in such circumstances and ordered him to attend a sex offender programme.

Homewood was ordered to pay £2,000 defence costs and £794 prosecution costs. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register.