When the 16-year-old girl got off the Stagecoach bus at Preston at the same time as the attacker, she went straight to bus station security.

Preston Crown Court prosecutor, Judith McCullough, said police were immediately contacted and the girl agreed to go in a police car to see if she could identify her molester.

She spotted Robert McWhinnie walking on Lancaster Road into Church Street in the city.

He was arrested and denied assaulting the girl, claiming to police the bus had braked and he had touched her accidentally.

Miss McCullough said the girl had been travelling to Preston from Blackpool and was surprised when the defendant sat directly behind her, despite many other seats being available.

He seemed to be muttering to himself and she thought she could feel her hair being stroked, the court heard.

She thought it may have been an accident and moved forward, explained Miss McCullough.

During the journey she dozed off and woke to feel the man's hands were underneath her top with two fingers on her back in the region of her kidneys, the court was told.

The man told her: "It's OK darling, there's nothing to worry about."

McWhinnie, 59, of Cocker Street, Blackpool, pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

He had one previous conviction dating back 13 years involving a physical assault in his native Scotland, the court heard.

His barrister, Joseph Hart, said the court appearance had been "terrifying" for the defendant who had done nothing of a similar nature in the past.

He said he was a "lonely alcoholic" who had been extremely drunk on the day and believed she was an adult, and added: "In an odd way it was an ill-conceived attempt at a pass."

Judge Stuart Baker sentenced McWhinnie to a three-year community order with a requirement he attended a sex offenders programme.

He warned him he risked being sent to prison if he breached the order.

His name will also be on the sex offenders register for five years.

Judge Baker said his victim had been "very level-headed" and it was her "sensible and comprehendible actions" which led to his arrest.

He said young women alone on public transport were entitled to be safe from such actions.

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