A married hair consultant who sexually assaulted customers in his clinic was tonight facing jail after being convicted of a string of offences.

Praminder Mankoo, of Oakley, near Thame, was convicted at Oxford Crown Court of one charge of indecent assault and three of sexual assault.

The father-of-four was cleared of one further charge of indecent assault and five of sexual assault.

During the two-week trial, the jury heard Mankoo, 47, assaulted four women while giving them massages for scalp complaints at his clinic, called Hairology, in Thame.

The first victim, who cannot be named, told the court she booked an appointment in 2004.

Giving evidence, she said: "I am not a stupid woman, but stupidly I found myself in a situation I had no control over, out of fear and out of disbelief."

She told the court Mankoo asked her to take off all her clothes except her knickers before closing her eyes during the massage.

The woman said when she opened her eyes she realised Mankoo had stripped to just his underwear.

She said: "He wasn't violent. That is how people like that behave, they lull you into a false sense of security.

"What he did to me was wrong, it was very wrong. I was scared."

A second victim said she visited Hairology in July 2005 and Mankoo told her to look at him as a "knight in shining armour" before massaging her breasts.

She said: "He asked me if I would explain to him my favourite outfit with my favourite underwear. He did request that I would wear that to the next consultation."

Another victim went to Mankoo's clinic in July 2007 when he also touched her breasts during a massage.

Speaking after today's verdicts, the 51-year-old said: "I said to him I felt uncomfortable. Initially he said it was fine, it was part of the treatment.

"When he started asking me whether I felt sexy I said I did not want to do it any more, I wanted to go. When I found out there were an awful lot more allegations it really shocked me.

"I am amazed he can still practice — I find that absolutely incredible and quite disgusting.

"On the day I was very traumatised. When I left there I was driving home and crying. He preys on vulnerable women. I hope he will be jailed."

Judge Mary Jane Mowat gave Mankoo, who was cautioned for indecent assault in 1998, bail and ordered him to attend Reading Crown Court for sentencing on October 17.

She said: "These are serious specified offences.

"I have got to consider the repeat nature of this offending. Certainly the custody threshold is passed in this case."

She ordered Mankoo to sign the Sex Offenders' Register and told him he must not treat any women without supervision or conduct any more massages.

Speaking after the case, Jenny Jonckheer, a senior lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "His consulting room should have provided a safe haven for them (his customers), but the defendant used their vulnerability to his own advantage."