A British Airways passenger who repeatedly groped a woman during a seven-hour flight from New York to London has been spared jail. 

Lithuanian Paulius Krilavicius, 45, from Lithuania, tried to pull the victim onto his lap and ran his hands up her leg during the flight from Newark, New Jersey, to London Heathrow on January 8. 

Krilavicius also told her he was looking for a 'life partner' and threw his arms around the woman's shoulders.

The victim was eventually moved to another seat in a different area of the plane after seeking out members of the BA cabin crew for protection.

Krilavicius was arrested upon leaving the flight and gave a no comment interview to police.

With the assistance of a Lithuanian interpreter he admitted sexual assault in Isleworth Crown Court on Monday.

The judge, Mr Recorder Arwel Jones, said custody was justified but sentenced Krilavicius to nine months imprisonment suspended for 18 months.

Mr Jones said: 'Your actions were deeply unpleasant for your fellow passenger who was travelling alone and trying to get through a flight, as anybody does, when they are on a long, international flight.

'Right from the outset you began to pester her.

'You deliberately put your hand onto her knee first, and then her thigh, and you kept repeatedly doing this.

'Her distress was such that she had to go and tell the cabin crew, and the cabin crew had to move her to a new position on the aircraft.

'The victim in this case was in a very vulnerable position in an aircraft high in the sky, next to you, and with very limited opportunities to get away from you.

'I also take into account that this went on for some time and in that sense it was a sustained incident.

'In my judgement this is a case that is so serious that only a custodial sentence is justified.

'Passengers on international flights have enough to contend with without fellow passengers like you engaging in such vile behaviour as this.

'The impact on the passenger was a lasting one.'

Krilavicius was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and told to attend 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He will also pay £500 in compensation to the victim and must also keep police informed of his details for 10 years.

Ivan Clarke, prosecuting, said: 'The offence took place on 8 January on an inbound flight from Newark, New Jersey, to London Heathrow.

'When the defendant got into his seat, the complainant smelled alcohol on the defendant.

'The defendant initially started to make small talk with her on multiple occasions - she gave short, non-committal answers and it should have been obvious to the defendant that she did not want to talk to him.

'The defendant told the complainant he was trying to find his life partner.

'Later, the defendant got up to go to the toilet and as he did so he placed his hand on the victim's knee and squeezed it as he stood up.

'On the defendant's return to his seat, the complainant got up and let the defendant into the seat, and the defendant placed both his hands on her shoulders.

'Thereafter the defendant started to make small talk again which the victim tried, effectively, to ignore.

'[Krilavicius] persisted, he then started to put his hands on her knee multiple times and squeezed her leg multiple times, effectively working his way up her leg.

'The defendant then turned to her, throwing his arms around her shoulders and trying to hug her.

'She told him to stop and said she was not interested - the defendant's response was in fact to continue the way he'd been acting.

'He flung his arms around her and tried to pull her closer to him and down towards his lap.

'The complainant pushed Krilavicius away and told him she'd had enough, she left her seat and sought the protection of the air staff.'

In her victim impact statement, the victim said she had become 'extremely anxious' when travelling on trains or planes.

'I often use public transport and since the incident I panic and become paranoid when in close proximity to males.

'During my first flight following the assault I sat in my chair and cried throughout the entire journey.'

Mr Clarke said the offence was made worse by the fact there was 'no escape' for the complainant.

George Payne, defending, said his client was in no doubt his behaviour constituted a 'flagrant breach of the victims personal and psychological boundaries'.

'His lack of personal control and decision making has plainly resulted in distress to an individual traveller who didn't have the ability to simply walk away.'

He added: 'He is originally from Lithuania, he works hard as a labourer, he explains to me that one of the difficulties with labouring work is it tends to be quite seasonal.

'Although he privately rents accommodation in London, work is fairly thin on the ground and his savings in this half of the year are fairly modest.

'He has family who are elsewhere and not immediately with him in the United Kingdom.'

Mr Payne asked that Krilavicius be handed a 'community based punishment' with unpaid work hours and rehabilitation activity day requirements.

He insisted this would not be a 'light touch sentence' but a chance for his client to 'understand his decision making and help him address his behaviour in the future.'

Krilavicius, of Marcus Street, Stratford, east London, admitted count of sexual assault on a female.