A RAILWAY sex pest deliberately deceived a crown court judge when he was sentenced for sexually abusing a lone woman passenger on a train.

Adam Abdullah’s defence team, acting on his instructions, claimed at York Crown Court he was a Red Cross volunteer during his sentencing hearing in April.

They handed in a newspaper picture of him in a Christmas hat serving an elderly gentleman dinner.

Abdullah, 35, of Strathmore Crescent, Newcastle was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months with 40 days’ rehabilitative activities.

The claim at York Crown Court in April was a lie and Judge Simon Hickey summoned Abdullah back to court.

“That was quite an impressive piece of mitigation,” he told the sex offender. “But within a week, the Head of the Red Cross contacted the court and me to make it clear you were not a volunteer.

"You must have known that. I was deliberately misled by you.”

He said he had checked his notes from the sentencing hearing and decided that since the volunteer claim had not been the reason why the sentence was suspended, he would let it remain as a suspended sentence.

"You are very fortunate I have not sent you to custody."

He increased the length of the suspended period to 18 months to ensure Abdullah could complete a sex offenders’ rehabilitation course.

He is on the sex offenders' register for seven years and subject to a restraining order for the same period.

Abdullah had denied charges of sexual assault and possession of an illegal Class C drug, but magistrates convicted him at a trial.

They sent him to the crown court for sentence.

In April, the judge heard how Abdullah made himself so unpleasant in a sexual way to the woman passenger she locked herself in a toilet to get away from him.

There she phoned her boyfriend and alerted staff who phoned police.

Abdullah was arrested when the northbound service from Kings Cross stopped at York. He had 34.4g of khat, an illegal stimulate on him.