Serial sex attacker groped schoolgirls in 18-month reign of terror on buses
A serial sex attacker who groped schoolgirls as young as 12 before exposing himself on buses has avoided prison because of his mental health issues.
During an 18-month reign of terror on public transport, Goher Damani would often sit next to his victims before they noticed he was exposing himself.
On two occasions, the 58-year-old sexually assaulted the girls by groping them before he was caught by police in south London.
He prayed on youngsters aged between the ages of 12 and 14 and told police of his desire to have a sexual relationship with a pre-teen.
He has now been sentenced to hospital and is also prohibited from living or entering a household with a child under 16 unless approval is given by social services, MyLondon reports.
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He carried out a number of attacks on buses in south London (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)Due to his ill health and upon the recommendation of psychiatrists, he has been hospitalised indefinitely under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act.
Damani is also not to have any unsupervised contact or employment that brings him into contact with children.
Upon his arrest in January 2021, he responded: “I thought you’d have come sooner, I’ve been trying to get your attention, I want to go back to prison.”
A judge at Inner London Crown Court heard that Damani, of Clapham, suffers from a number of mental health disorders and has stated his desire to have sex with a 12-year-old girl.
The court heard that on August 6, 2019, he had boarded the G1 bus at around 3pm at Tooting Broadway station and stood very close to a woman with a pushchair and her child. She turned to look at him and discovered that he was exposing himself.
He also committed offences outside a London Underground station during the 18-month spree (Getty Images)Just two months later on October 3, he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl on the same bus route.
After sitting next to her, he placed his bag, drink and right hand to obscure himself while he leant over and touched her.
His second bout of offending came on December 3 2020 after he twice exposed himself to schoolgirls on different buses in Clapham.
In her victim impact statement, one girl said that the incident had made her “wary” of her surroundings and said that she had changed her travel routine as a result of the incident.
On December 5, Damani sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl on the route 355 bus in Brixton Hill by groping her while sitting next to her. She confronted him and two bystanders intervened and reported it to the police, which led to his arrest a month later.
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After being remanded into custody, his mental health deteriorated and he was hospitalised after becoming catatonic.
He has since been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, disinhibited personality disorder, catatonia, exhibitionism, recurrent depressive disorder and paedophilia.
For several months, he presented with selective mutism and was only able to sit out of bed for an hour at a time.
The court heard that he had struggled with a history of gambling and substance abuse and had been homeless for a period after his divorce in 2019.
Despite an improvement in his mental health, psychiatrists deemed to be at a “high-risk of re-offending” due to his stated desire to have sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl.
Sentencing him to hospital, Judge Vanessa Baraitser said: “You have now committed a series of five similar offences in a period of 18 months, you have persistently offended over a period of time.” She added that while his offending showed no suggestion that he had pursued his victims, they were “particularly vulnerable” due to their young age.
“You are indeed suffering from a mental disorder and that it is of a nature and degree which makes it appropriate for you to be detained in hospital for you to receive treatment,” she said.
As well as a hospital order, Damani must also abide by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which is due to be in place for 15 years.
The conditions state that he must not use public transport unless with an Oyster card or card registered to his name or sit next to any unknown female on public transport.
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