November 2026

Sex offender who stripped naked on train jailed

A repeat sex offender who stripped completely naked on a train and sexually gratified himself has been jailed

Jose Tavares, 50 (02/07/1976), and of no fixed address, was jailed for one year and two weeks at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on 28 October. 

He pleaded guilty to Exposure, Assaulting an Emergency Worker, and breaching requirements given to him for a previous sexual offence.

Tavares was also given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years. 

The court heard that BTP officers were called to Ashford International railway station on the evening of 26 October to reports of a naked man on a train.

The call was made by a member of rail staff who saw Tavares naked in the aisle of one of the train’s coaches fully exposed and sexually gratifying himself. 

A member of rail staff witnessed him fully exposed and sexually gratifying himself.

BTP officers quickly attended, located Tavares and arrested him near the station.

He was taken to hospital for a medical assessment, and as officers were preparing to take him back to police custody, he spat in the face of one of the officers. 

In court on 28 October, Tavares was jailed for 4 months and 2 weeks for breaching a suspended sentence after being convicted of Exposure in March this year following a previous incident. He received an additional nine month sentence for failing to meet the notification requirements after being placed on the sex offenders’ register.  

Tavares was also jailed for just under nine months for Exposure relating to this incident, plus three months for Assaulting an Emergency Worker, which the judge ordered both to be served concurrently.