Murat Yılmaz was jailed for a year
A driver who sexually assaulted a woman who fell asleep on his bus has been jailed for a year.
Murat Yılmaz, 44, of Islington, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to sexual assault at Wood Green Crown Court.
He was also be placed on the sex offences register for 10 years.
The incident happened in the early hours of Saturday 24 May on a route 134 bus travelling between Tottenham Court Road and North Finchley.
The victim, a 24-year-old woman, boarded the bus following a night out, and fell asleep on the top deck. Yılmaz pulled into the Tally Ho bus stand in North Finchley, at the end of the route. There he sexually assaulted the victim, rubbing her legs and bottom, while she was still asleep.
The victim woke up and felt the suspect touching her and ran off the bus, where she called her family for help.
The incident was reported to police the following day.
The Roads and Transport Policing Command Sexual Offences Team led the investigation and obtained CCTV footage from the bus, which led to Yılmaz being identified. He has since been dismised from his job.
Chief Superintendent Matt Bell, Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: “
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.”
Siwan Hayward, 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.”
