An asylum seeker looking for a ‘quick thrill’ rubb

An asylum seeker looking for a ‘quick thrill’ rubbed a woman between the legs on a packed coach – then claimed his hand slipped, a court heard.

As the bus pulled into the station shocked passengers heard the 35-year-old scream: ‘This pervert is putting his hand between my legs.

‘

But Rames Navaratnam, 18, said he fondled the sleeping woman by accident and went on to state to amazed detectives: ‘Maybe she fancied me.

‘

Blackfriars Crown Court heard the incident happened as the National Express coach travelling between Leicester and London’s Victoria Station.

Navaratnam who was sitting next to the woman, touched her thigh, then started rubbing her leg and inch away from her vagina.

The woman started screaming and swearing as the coach pulled into Golder’s Green station before its final stop at Victoria.

Navaratnam turned to the woman and said: ‘I’m sorry, my hand slipped.

‘

But in a bizarre statement after his arrest he said he thought the woman ‘may have fancied him’ and
was touching him with her legs as he slept.

Giving evidence through a Tamil interpreter, Navaratnam said: ‘I was not given a chance to explain.

She was shouting.

I was embarrassed
and frightened.

‘

Navaratnam claimed that the woman’s legs were touching his ‘purposefully’ during the trip.

‘I didn’t do anything wrong.

I only put my hand on her leg to push it off,’ he told the court.

Phillip Johnson, prosecuting, asked him: ‘How can a sleeping woman show sexual feelings towards somebody?’

Navaratnam replied: ‘I’ve no knowledge about that.

‘

Mr Johnson went on: ‘The prosecution suggest that first of all you touched her thigh momentarily.

After getting away with that you decided to rub your
hand between her thighs to see if you could get away with that as well.

‘When she woke up it was quite clear you wanted to get out of it so you tried to apologise by saying ‘My hand slipped.

‘

Navaratnam denied both allegations.

‘And you continued your lies in your written statement when you said: ‘Maybe she fancied me.

‘

The defendant replied: ‘At the time it could have been like that.

‘

Mr Johnson concluded by saying: ‘The truth of it is you were caught getting a quick thrill, weren’t
you.

‘Ever since then you have been trying to lie to get out of that situation.

‘

Mr Navaratnam said: ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.

I’m not telling you lies.

‘

Aked why he didn’t simply push the woman’s leg away Navaratnam said:’Maybe she would have thought that was an indecent assault as well.

‘

Navaratnam, of (379) Woolwich Road, Charlton, south east London denies one charge of indecent assault on 10 October 2000.

The trial continues.

ends

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