A shop worker was jailed yesterday (Wednesday) for sexually assaulting four females on east London buses – including a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

Dikshitkumar Soni, 38, of The Drive in Ilford, was sentenced to 46 weeks in jail and five years on the Sex Offenders Register upon his release after one victim said he smiled while assaulting her.

Romford Magistrates’ Court heard that he sexually assaulted women on East London buses four times over nine months.

His most recent attack was in Havering earlier this year, when he sexually assaulted a schoolgirl.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the attack left her scared to travel to school.

“I found it very difficult to stop crying,” she said.

“The incident put me off getting on buses.

“I’m a 16-year-old school who on the morning of the assault was just trying to go to school – I shouldn’t be subjected to this kind of sustained assault.”

She finally found the courage to use the bus again the following week, only to be see Soni travelling on it once again.

“When I saw him I froze,” she said.

“I couldn’t believe what was happening.”

Soni also assaulted a 22-year-old woman on a bus in Gidea Park in August last year, when he prodded and stroked her for about eight minutes.

And in January in Romford, he pressed himself against a 22-year-old woman before putting his hand on her breast with what magistrates heard was “a big smile on his face”.

He also touched a woman’s left breast while breathing heavily in Dagenham in June last year.

Soni, of The Drive, Ilford, changed his plea of not guilty to guilty, confessing to four counts of sexual assault.

The court also heard Soni, who is originally from India and required an interpreter, has been living and working in the UK illegally for 10 years and is subject to a deportation order.

Magistrates’ also ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £80.