Dudley train pervert has jail sentence cut
A sex offender who was jailed for preying on women on trains and buses has had his prison sentence slashed by appeal judges.
Robert David Osbourne, 42, was locked up in September last year for a string of offences against women in the West Midlands.
Osbourne, of Ashenhurst Road, Dudley, took photos up women's skirts after sitting close to them on public transport.
The former tree surgeon admitted four sexual assaults and a count of assault by beating and was jailed for four years at Birmingham Crown Court.
Considered 'dangerous' to women, he was also ordered to serve an additional four years on extended licence after his release.
But three senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London ruled the sentence was too tough.
Allowing Osbourne's appeal, Judge John Wait instead imposed a jail term of three years and two months and quashed the extended licence.
"The offences, while very disturbing and distressing for the victims, were not of themselves the most serious," he said.
The court heard Osbourne has a long list of previous convictions for sexual offending and has served prison sentences in the past.
Freed, he struck again in late 2013, grabbing a woman's leg, taking photos up her skirt and making suggestive remarks on a bus in Dudley.
Two months later, he assaulted a woman on a Worcester-bound train, grabbing her thigh after taking photos of her during the journey.
He struck three more times in May and June, twice on public transport, and once after following a woman into her block of flats.
When police searched his home, they found a computer with images taken up women's skirts stored on it.
There was also a piece of paper with the name of a website dedicated to 'up-skirt pantie pervs' noted down.
Judge Wait, sitting with Lord Justice Simon and Mr Justice Goss, said Osbourne posed a 'high risk' of harm to women.
The offences followed a pattern and involved premeditation, shown by his use of a camera, he said.
"They did not involve causing serious physical harm, but the victims spoke of their shock, distress, feelings of violation and upset," he continued.
"This was a series of offences, committed by a man who had committed previous similar offences."
But despite the future risk, the sentence imposed was excessive and would be reduced to 38 months, he continued.
A sexual harm prevention order, banning Osbourne from carrying a camera or camera phone in public, was made indefinitely.
