A MAN has been jailed for having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Dale Sullivan, 23, of Trinity Court in Weymouth, had previously pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child.

Dorchester Crown Court heard how the victim - who cannot be named because of her age - consented to sex with Sullivan after drinking cider on April 5 this year.

Joanna Morrisey, prosecuting, said the pair met up outside a Weymouth pub. They had known each other since 2006.

She said: "The defendant asked if (the victim) would like to come back with him and she said OK. He had been drinking cider and she had drunk some but very little.

"The victim was meant to be home by 9.15pm. She didn't come home and her mother started to phone her friends."

Miss Morrisey added: "The girl's mother says she can remember the defendant asking her over a period of time when her daughter was going to be 16."

Timothy Shorter, mitigating, said the incident was 'casual not predatory'.

He said the defendant had suffered with alcohol dependency problems since childhood.

Judge Christopher Harvey Clark sentenced Sullivan to 12 months in prison with release on licence after six months.

He said: "You knew her age, you knew it was unlawful, you knew that you shouldn't have a sexual relationship with her.

"I hope you will undergo classes whilst in custody that will discourage you from committing this kind of offence again."

Sullivan will be put on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.