Mar 4, 2018
A teenage model who was sexually assaulted in a busy train station just yards away from her mother has waived her right to anonymity to urge other victims to speak out.
Hariotte Lane was groped as she walked through the barriers at Newcastle Central Station after visiting a friend in Barnsley.
The 16-year-old was no more than 10 feet away from her mother Sarah who was there to collect her when Steven Cartwright, 55, touched her in August last year.
It was the first time the current Miss Teen Tyne & Wear Galaxy had been allowed to travel on her own, making her feel ‘grown up’.
But as her mother caught sight of her she saw her in floods of tears. Now she says the ordeal has left her feeling ‘sick, anxious’ and unable to travel alone.
Harriotte, of West Allotment, North Tyneside, explained: ‘It was the first time I’d travelled alone and felt really responsible and grown up.
‘I’d travelled on trains with my mum so many times for modelling jobs so I knew it wasn’t a problem.
‘I had my hands full with my suitcase and handbag and walked through the underpass.
‘He walked past and grabbed me on my bum, it was humiliating.
