Sex assault victim's 13-hour wait for BTP response

A woman who reported being sexually assaulted on the London Underground said police did not respond to her call for 13 hours.

Esme Rice said she was travelling to her home in east London, when two men boarded her Elizabeth line train and assaulted her just before 23:00 BST on 6 June.

She messaged 61016 - a dedicated British Transport Police (BTP) line for discreetly reporting crimes by text - but said she was "disappointed and confused" that no-one called her back until the next day and said the number was the not "safety net" she hoped for.

BTP said the line received more than a quarter of a million texts every year and that tackling sexual offending on the railway was a "force priority".

BTP has since made an appeal to trace two men they want to speak to about the assault, in which Rice said she was groped.

They are believed to have been among a group of buskers who boarded the train Rice was travelling on and got off at the same time as her at Stratford.

No arrests have been made.

Rice - who has since posted about her experience on social media - said as she got off the train following the assault she could not find a police officer to report it to.

"I texted 61016 two minutes after the attack... I received an automated text message back from them saying they would call me shortly, that it was very urgent for them. I did not receive a phone call until 13 hours later," she told BBC Radio London.

"As a woman travelling alone you feel very unsafe and you expect there to be this safety net.

"There are lots of advertising campaigns around telling you this safety net is there, so when you reach out and you realise it's really just an illusion, then it's really quite upsetting."

Rice added that "hundreds" of women had since shared their stories with her about using the 61016 service, many reporting long waits for a return call.

BTP said the 61016 service was for non-emergency reports and was monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week and reports requiring a police response went directly to its control room.

In response to this incident, a force spokesperson said: "Tackling sexual offending on the railway is a force priority for us, and we're committed to protecting everyone's right to a safe journey.

"The 61016 number receives over a quarter of a million texts every year – and this figure continues to rise as confidence grows among passengers in reporting historically underreported crimes, such as sexual offending.

"This isn't misplaced confidence, as we've shown time and time again that we won't stop until we've caught offenders, put them before the courts, and secured justice for victims."

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