Man watched porn next to school pupil on train

A Mirfield school pupil was sat alone on the 3.39pm Huddersfield to Leeds service until Dewsbury, when a man in a dark trenchcoat sat next to him. John Forsyth, 43, began to watch a video of a man performing a sex act on himself on his mobile phone.

The schoolboy only noticed what was happening after overhearing other children nearby discussing what the man was watching.

Forsyth looked in the boy’s direction before continuing to watch the video. He was identified on CCTV leaving the train after the boy told train staff what had happened.

On Monday, Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court heard that Forsyth, of Kilburn Lane, Dewsbury, had been drinking large amounts of cheap vodka in Dewsbury that day.

Anastasis Tasou, mitigating, said his client was ‘deeply ashamed’ of his actions, adding that Forsyth would lose his job as an agency chef.

Mr Tasou said: “He drank to such an extent that he really wasn’t that aware of what was going on around him.”

He told the court that Forsyth often struggled to make ends meet, and was depressed after hearing about a close family members’ illness.

Mr Tasou said no illegal material had been found by police on any device owned by Forsyth.

He added: “He thoroughly regrets that anybody may have seen what he was watching. It was a very small screen and he was not broadcasting it.”

Forsyth must pay £150 fine, £85 court costs and £20 victim surcharge.