The victim, who cannot be identified, said she was unable to work for two weeks after the attack and was now wary of who she accepted as a fare.

In a statement read to Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday, she said: “I can’t cope with it. Every time someone gets in my car, I think it is going to happen again.”

The court heard that the woman had been subjected to the ordeal as she drove to Bury St Edmunds where her attacker, Stephen Cross, lived.

Cross, 28, had three times tried to grab the woman’s breasts as he sat behind her in the cab, which had picked him up in Newmarket High Street at about 3.30am on September 2 last year, said Ian Pells, prosecuting.

After a brief stop in Wickhambrook, Cross moved into the front passenger seat and launched into a tirade of sexual suggestions and threats.

Finally, when the taxi reached his home, Cross got out, refusing to pay the £25 fare, telling his victim: “You’re not getting anything.”

Mr Pells said the taxi driver drove back to Newmarket where, at the police station, she was able to provide officers with images from an in-car security camera, which led to Cross being identified.

He was arrested but refused to answer police questions. He was also picked out by his victim during an identity parade.

In a pre-prepared statement handed to officers, Cross said: “I never touched the taxi driver involved in this case in any way.”

Mr Pells said that Cross, of Beetons Way, Bury, had been found guilty in his absence by a district judge of sexual assault.

Mitigating, Lindsay Cox said the sexual assault had been at the lower end of the scale of seriousness and that as a result of the prosecution Cross had lost his job as a golf club chef.

Explaining the effect of Cross’ actions, the victim said in a statement to the court: “I never used to be frightened of anyone. I tried to see the good in people. He has ruined all that. I don’t know if I can get over this.”

Sentencing Cross to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, Mr Recorder Richard Atchley told him: “Your behaviour in that car has intruded in that woman’s life not for minutes, not for hours, not for days but possibly the rest of her life.

“Don’t think you are getting off lightly, you are not. If you so much as breath in the wrong direction then it will be goodbye.”

Cross was banned from going within 10 miles of Newmarket, told to pay £1,000 compensation to his victim and placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.