Nisan Fernando Kurukulasuriya, aged 39, of Troutbeck Road, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, has been sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment at Manchester Crown Court after admitting to sexually assaulting a passenger on a train and outraging public decency.
The incident occurred on 20 April 2026 aboard a rail service travelling between Stoke and Manchester. The court heard that Kurukulasuriya deliberately sat directly beside a female passenger who was engaged in a phone call and carried out repeated sexual assaults against her. The victim attempted to defend herself by physically pushing Kurukulasuriya away, but he continued the assault.
Moments later, the victim discovered that Kurukulasuriya had exposed his genitals and was masturbating in front of her. When the woman shouted at him in distress, Kurukulasuriya stood up and fled through the train carriages towards another section of the service.
Upon arrival at Manchester Piccadilly station, the victim immediately approached railway staff stationed at the ticket barriers to report the sexual assault. Her attacker was observed standing only metres away, unable to navigate through the ticket gates. Staff detained him until British Transport Police officers arrived on the platform and took him into custody.
During police questioning, Kurukulasuriya displayed no remorse and exercised his right to silence, answering “no comment” to all inquiries.
Under UK legislation, all victims of sexual offences are protected by lifelong statutory anonymity.
The court was also told of Kurukulasuriya’s wider pattern of public transport offending, which included convictions for sexually assaulting two teenage girls, aged 16 and 17, aboard a bus in Tameside.
Appearing before Manchester Crown Court on 15 September, Kurukulasuriya entered guilty pleas to sexual assault and outraging public decency. The judge handed him an eight-month custodial sentence, alongside an order requiring him to notify police under the Sex Offenders Register for a period of 10 years.
In addition, the court made Kurukulasuriya subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which strictly prohibits him from sitting next to any female passenger unknown to him on any form of public transport. No deportation order has been issued in relation to his status.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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