Asylum seeker jailed after shouting sexual profanity at young girl in Portsmouth and exposing himself to hotel staff in Southampton
A Sri Lankan man has been jailed for 16 months after shouting sexual profanities at a young girl in Portsmouth and exposing himself to hotel staff while seeking asylum in the UK.
Sukirthan Thangrasha, 38, was convicted following a trial at Portsmouth Crown Court of one count of exposure following the incident at the Highfield House Hotel in Southampton on August 15, 2025.
He also pleaded guilty to using abusive or threatening language in the incident involving the girl in Portsmouth when she was walking through Kingston Cemetery on September 15, 2025. The court heard that a man walking with his two children heard the defendant, who was drunk at the time, shout the profanity leaving the girl in a “teary” state.
Thangrasha also pleading guilty to two charges of assault against two members of staff at the Southampton hotel where he was being accommodated.
The offences were committed in breach of a conditional discharge imposed on the defendant for two offences of assaulting two police constables and making threats to kill, the court heard.
He was also convicted of shoplifting offences from John Lewis and M&S stores.
The trial had been told that in the exposure incident, Thangrasha had come to the reception and demanded the staff repair his mobile phone before throwing it at the reception desk. He became “abusive” to staff and said that he was a “strong man” and the staff were “small men from India and Pakistan and they should respect him”.
He then assaulted a member of staff before pulling his trousers and boxer shorts down, the court was told.
The court heard that Thangrasha came to the UK to flee the civil war in Sri Lanka leaving his wife and children behind. He had since suffered from mental health issues including anxiety and depression and drank excessively while in the UK.
Judge William Ashworth told him: “In truth I find little or no mitigation, you are still in denial of the number of offences of which you have pleaded guilty or been convicted of and fail to acknowledge you have repeatedly drunk to excess and committed offences as a result.”