A man who sexually assaulted a woman at a railway station was caught after a public appeal, a Court heard.

Maqbool Shah, 58, leaned over a kiosk and grabbed the mother-of-four’s breast as she handed him some change.

Shah, of Nurser Lane, Canterbury, Bradford, stood with his head bowed in the dock at Bradford Crown Court as the judge yesterday told him: “I am not sure what possessed you to do it.” Judge Christopher Batty said: “You are right to hang your head because she did not deserve that. No woman should be put in a position where she is violated.”

Shah pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman, in her 30s, in the kiosk where she worked at a station in Manchester.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron said Shah remarked: “She’s lovely, isn’t she?” while buying crisps from her on April 4 last year.

Mr Hendron said the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, felt annoyed and uncomfortable.

Shah returned at 11am the next day. As she passed him his change, he took hold of her left breast and said: “Very nice.”

Mr Hendron said the shocked woman told Shah: “How dare you?”. Shah handed himself into Bradford Police Station after police released a CCTV image of him at the station.

Shah’s barrister, Yunus Valli, said his client was married with three children.

He had never been in any trouble before the incident.

Judge Batty said Shah, who served in the Pakistani army, was depressed.

Shah was sentenced to a two-year community order with supervision. He must take part in a Sex Offender Programme and register with the police as a sex offender for five years.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: “The behaviour of Shah was completely unacceptable and the fact that he has been brought to justice should bring some level of closure to his victim.”