A kitchen porter found guilty of indecently assaulting a woman on a bus from Inverness to Skye was placed on the sex offenders register for three years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
Abdul Latif was convicted of assaulting a holidaymaker as she lay asleep at the back of the bus, placing his hand underneath her clothing and handling her back and buttocks for 20 minutes during the journey on April 15 last year.
Latif, 64, formerly lived in Culloden and then moved to Kyle of Lochalsh, but now lives permanently at an address in Perth.
During his trial in May, the court heard how two women, who can not be identified for legal reasons, boarded the bus at Inverness to go camping in Skye.
Latif said he suffered from diabetes and had an epileptic attack and would have been unaware of his actions. He also claimed if he did touch her it was accidental and caused by the motion of the bus.
But a male witness described how Latif stretched over from a seat in front of his victim and placed his hand down the back of her leggings and was stroking her lower back and bottom for over 20 minutes.
The witness thought he was known to the woman, and it only became clear this was not the case when her 29-year-old friend, sitting a few seats in front, challenged Latif.
Yesterday in court Sheriff Neilson said: “I am prepared to make a community payback order as a direct alternative to a sentence of imprisonment.”
As well as carrying out unpaid work, Latif will be under offender supervision for three years and participate in the joint sex offenders programme, and will be placed on the register for three years.
