Southwark Crown Court Press Association

AN ILLEGAL immigrant deported for a string of sex attacks returned to the UK and exposed himself to female bus passengers.

London Underground cleaner Daniel Samson was jailed for 15 months today after he used a fake passport to return and target more women.

The 44-year-old, who initially came to Britain 10 years ago on a family visa obtained in Germany, was first imprisoned for 15 months in 2002 for groping a total of 18 women in the street.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard after his release he was driven to Heathrow and put on a plane to Lagos, Nigeria.

Undeterred, he lost little time getting a new identity and slipping back into Britain.

Nick Wells, prosecuting, said between last September and January this year he committed a further eight sex offences, all against bus passengers - including fondling a 17-year-old schoolgirl.

He said the crop-haired defendant, who used his fake passport to get a job as a London Underground cleaner, "followed the same pattern" in his latest crime spree.

Apart from the teenager, all were in their 20s, including some at college or university.

Having boarded a bus he would sit next to a woman on her own, expose himself, nudge them to get them to notice he was masturbating and then apologise repeatedly.

On one occasion he woke his "shocked and distressed" victim up to show her what he was doing, while on two others he "boxed the passengers in their seats" when they tried to escape.

The barrister told the court Samson usually left if other passengers got on or noticed what he was doing, although a couple of times he briefly followed those he targeted when they got off.

Finally, at the end of January, he targeted the schoolgirl.

Wells said after he began "playing with himself", he sexually touched the horrified youngster.

He did not stop until she threatened to call the police.

But after he left she dialled 999 anyway.

Officers tracked down his Oyster card number, linked it to the Barclays Bank card used to top it up, and traced him to an address in Peckham, south-east London.

"Officers were greeted by a female who said only she and a child were there. But they then heard someone else in the house and found the defendant trying to leave through a window at the back."

The barrister said London Underground was contacted and his work locker searched.

"Numerous passports were found in different names but all with his photograph in them."

Samson was originally charged under one of his aliases, but after a fingerprint check linked him to the earlier offences he was properly identified.

He remained silent when interviewed but later pleaded guilty to seven offences of exposure and one of sexual assault.

Said by his barrister to "want to apologise to everybody", the serial sex offender bowed his head in apparent shame as he was jailed.

Judge Anthony Pitts told him after his deportation in 2002 the evidence suggested he had "come back into this country on a false passport”.

"You are here illegally, and the second series of sexual offences in this country makes another recommendation for deportation inevitable."

The judge said although Samson was not considered "dangerous" in the sense that an indeterminate prison sentence could be justified, "the sheer scale and sheer persistence of your offending" meant immediate custody was also unavoidable.

"The offences are all of a pattern, although the two occasions where you followed your victims off the bus are a cause for concern."

The judge added that apart from his previous convictions, "what also aggravates these new offences is the upset and anxiety and distress caused to the victims, something you don't expect to be faced with when taking public transport."