Man allegedly exposes himself to women standing in queue to see Queen's coffin, jumps into the Thames to flee

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By stefan armitage

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Two women have claimed to have been sexually assaulted while they queued to see the late Queen Elizabeth II lying in state.

As reported by Metro, Westminster Magistrates' Court has heard how to two female complainants had joined the hours-long queue to Westminister Hall in London in order to view the late queen's coffin.

However, while waiting near Victoria Tower Gardens on Wednesday evening, the two women say they were approached by 19-year-old Adio Adeshine.

Prosecutor Alex Alawode said in court that Adeshine had joined the queue of mourners, before he started to "repeatedly" follow one of the complainants.

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Credit: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy

"The complainant believes he had pushed in the queue and noticed he kept getting close to her, which she found alarming," Alawode told the court. "By 7:30PM the defendant was getting closer to her.

"She believed he was touching her back and she described the defendant pushing into her."

The teenager then allegedly exposed his genitals to a woman - who proceeded to pass a note to her sister to explain what she had just witnessed.

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Credit: David Levenson / Alamy

The prosecution then detailed how a group of people then stood between Adeshine and the woman, which led to the defendant walking away. However, the 19-year-old then allegedly performed the same act toward another woman.

Alawode added: "The defendant was described as making attempts to get away. He went into the River Thames to evade the police before being arrested coming out of the river."

Once he emerged from the river, he was arrested.

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Credit: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy

Adeshine has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order. Additionally, following his appearance in court on Friday (September 16), he was remanded in custody. He will remain in custody until a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on October 14.

"I have substantial grounds to believe that if released you have a substantial risk of reoffending," Deputy District Judge Tan Ikram told Adeshine before denying him bail.

The teenager has denied the charges against him.

Also on Friday evening, another disturbance took place - this time inside Westminister Hall.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that a man was arrested at around 10:00PM after allegedly attempting to rush the Queen's coffin as it was lying in state.

Footage appearing to show the incident was shared to Twitter:

The moment was captured by cameras currently live-streaming the late Queen lying in state. Following the incident, the feed was briefly cut.

Featured image credit: Mickey Lee / Alamy