A pervert bus driver who sexually assaulted a woman sleeping on his bus has been jailed for a year.

Murat Yilmaz, of Copenhagen Street, Islington, pulled into the Tally Ho bus stand in Barnet at the end of his 134 bus route and began rubbing the legs and bottom of a sleeping 24-year-old woman who was on the top deck.

The victim was on the way home from a night out in the early hours of Saturday May 24 when she woke up and felt Yilmaz, 44, touching her.

She ran off the bus, where she called her family for help.

The incident was reported to police the next day and Yilmaz was arrested by police who used CCTV footage from the bus to identify him.

Yilmaz pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Wood Green Crown Court on November 12 where he was also placed on the sex offences register for 10 years.

Chief Superintendent Matt Bell, Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: “This bus driver abused his position, and as a result of our investigation, has been jailed.

“Sexual assaults on the transport network will not be tolerated and anyone who commits such offences will be caught and prosecuted.

“If someone has made you feel uncomfortable on your bus journey - however minor it may seem to you - reporting it to police can help us target the perpetrator and prevent it happening to another passenger.”

Yilmaz’s sentence came just days after British Transport Police launched an appeal to find a man who sexually assaulted a woman in the toilets at Finsbury Park Station in October.

Siwan Hayward, TfL’s deputy director of enforcement, said: “We are pleased to see that the bus driver responsible for this despicable offence, who abused his position, has been brought to justice.

“All of our customers deserve the right to feel safe and be safe when travelling in London which is why we continue to work closely with the police to tackle unwanted sexual behaviour on our network.

“We urge anyone who has been subjected to this type of behaviour to report it so that the Police can, as they have in this instance, investigate and prosecute the perpetrator, so together we can eradicate crime on our network.”