A British man has been handed a 12-month community order after becoming the first person to plead guilty in a British Transport Police prosecution under a new law targeting gender-motivated harassment.David Stroud, 44, from Dartford, pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court after the incident on the train from Hastings to London, the BBC reports.The case marks the first criminal conviction in England and Wales under the law which criminalises intentionally harassing a person because of sexual contact in public places. Stroud was arrested two days after the law went into effect on April 1.Prosecutors said Stroud walked up to a woman who was talking to her boyfriend on the train and sat next to her. During the trip, he repeatedly leaned toward her, calling her “magical” and grabbing her hair before asking, “Can I kiss you?”The court heard the woman rejected the advances and replied, “Absolutely not,” and asked him to stop, but he continued chatting with her.In a victim impact statement read during the sentencing, the woman said the encounter left her feeling “trapped, powerless and terrified”.She told the court: “Now whenever I leave the house I feel the need for someone’s company. I can never go anywhere alone, just because I am a woman.”The woman, who described herself as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, said the experience left her “paranoid with fear” and changed her approach to everyday activities.The court also heard that Stroud had been drinking at the time of the incident. The victim said she smelled alcohol on his breath and said she felt intimidated by his behavior.In her statement, she said: “Imagine being a petite young woman when a large, drunk man tries to sit on top of you. I was the unwilling recipient of such contact.”After overhearing the phone conversation, the woman’s boyfriend alerted the British Transport Police. Officers later arrested Stroud at London Bridge railway station.Stroud had previously admitted a separate 22-month stalking operation and was on bail on stalking charges when the train incident occurred.He was sentenced for both crimes on Tuesday. Magistrates ordered him to complete a 15-day rehabilitation programme, carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and comply with a 12-month community order.Speaking before the hearing, the victim said some people might dismiss Stroud’s conduct as drunken behavior or a “joke”, but said the outcome showed the importance of reporting such incidents.“It proves justice that it is appropriate to report to the police,” he said. “If these crimes go unreported and punished nothing will change.”The offense falls under the provisions of the Public Order Act 1986, which covers harassment motivated by a person’s sex, including incidents targeting women and girls in public places such as streets, parks and public transport.