A man convicted of groping a woman on a public bus has launched an appeal — claiming he is a victim of mistaken identity. Nirmalan Anandacoomarasamy, 35, was convicted last September of sexually assaulting the complainant on the Number 7 South Shore service.

The woman, aged in her 50s, told his Magistrates' Court trial that a man touched her leg three times after taking a seat next to her on the bus on December 22 2006.

She explained that she was dozing after the bus left Hamilton depot around 4 pm. She initially felt something rubbing her leg by her knee, then further up her leg — but dismissed the incidents as the result of her dreaming or perhaps being tickled by an insect.

However, she next felt something rubbing her on the thigh, close to her vagina — and saw the man next to her had his hand on the top of her thigh.

She picked Anandacoomarasamy, a Sri Lankan national, out during an ID parade on February 7 2007.

Launching an appeal against the conviction at Supreme Court yesterday, defence lawyer Mark Pettingill claimed the victim scarcely glanced at the culprit on the bus.

Anandacoomarasamy, he told the Chief Justice, is the victim of a "ghastly" case of mistaken identity. However, Crown Counsel Cindy Clarke argued that the woman had ample opportunity to observe the man in question, and the conviction is safe.

The defendant was originally on trial for assaulting another woman in similar circumstances on December 14 2006. That charge was dismissed by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner on the grounds of flawed identification evidence.

Chief Justice Richard Ground said he would reserve his judgment in the current case until after Easter, bailing Anandacoomarasamy in the meanwhile.

The defendant, a guest worker living in Southampton, faces deportation if his conviction is upheld. He lost his job as a result, and remains unemployed.