PICTURED: Jail term for sex pest who took pictures up the skirts of women on trains and buses
A sex pest who took pictures up the skirts of women after cornering them on trains and buses has been jailed for four years.
Robert Osbourne was branded a danger to the public and will be closely monitored for four more years than is usual on his release from prison.
The 41-year-old had a string of 'worrying' previous convictions before launching his latest wave of offending, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
He struck five times in seven months taking photographs up the skirt of a woman on each occasion and grabbing the thigh of one of the victims, explained Mr Simon Burch, prosecuting.
The first offence occured after the defendant boarded a bus at Dudley Bus Station on November 26 2013.
He had a tattoo on a finger and was wearing a jacket with distinctive embroidery.
Osbourne struck again during a train journey to Cradley Heath and on a further occasion took the photograph after following a woman into a block of flats in Holloway Head, Birmingham, the court was told.
On May 9 2014 he befriended a woman on a bus from Birmingham to Brierley Hill, moved to sit next to her and pushed his hand up her skirt.
Then he targeted a woman on a train he boarded at Snow Hill, Birmingham on June 11.
Osbourne was finally traced through the distinctive jacket worn while committing the first offence.
The embroidery revealed he belonged to a particular Biker Club and the tell tale tattoo identified which member was involved.
A notebook found at his home showed he had been using a website for perverts.
Mr John Evans, defending, conceded that the previous convictions of Osbourne were 'worrying' and stretched back almost 20 years.
The defendant from Ashenhurst Road, Dudley pleaded guilty to one assault and four sexual assaults and was sent to prison by Judge Michael Challinor who told him: "Your victims were very frightened and are now wary of using public transport.
"Some felt degraded by your behaviour. They were effectively trapped with you in locations like railway carriages and buses.
"For nearly 20 years you have been targeting women and young girls for sexual attack.
"The sexual activity you were engaging in on these occasions was not of the most serious type but demonstrated your bold and persistent approach.
"You are out of control when in public with young girls and present a significant risk of creating harm.
"You need to be confined for a period followed by lengthy, and close, supervision on release."
