A teenage girl who had run away from a children's home was plied with vodka by a stranger before being taken to a hotel room and sexually assaulted, a court heard.

The youngster was said to be "hideously drunk" and could barely walk when she was carried into the reception of a Premier Inn in Ashford by Andrew Walker.

But a jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard the 39-year-old later told police he was incapable of sex.

The pair had met just hours earlier after the girl gave her carer the slip in Margate.

With her was a boy from the same children's home. Unbeknown to the carer, he had snuck into the boot of the car which was taking the girl to a bowling alley to play pool for the evening.

But the youngsters, described by prosecutor Oliver Dunkin as "damaged, vulnerable and something of a handful", absconded and caught a train to Ashford, arriving late at night.

It was by chance, and an unlucky chance said Mr Dunkin, that they came across Walker. Neither knew him nor had met him before.

Walker later told police he had been drinking throughout the day with his brother, consuming 16 pints of Fosters lager before buying the litre bottle of vodka.

"She remembers being carried by someone and the next thing she remembers is waking up in a hotel room the next morning" - Oliver Dunkin, prosecuting

He denies sexual assault and two offences of child abduction in January this year.

The court heard it was the boy who approached Walker, asking for a cigarette. Walker then asked the girl's age.

Although the answer was not true, Mr Dunkin said Walker would have known the pair were children.

The youngsters then went with Walker in a taxi to buy vodka from a petrol station, before sitting in a park and drinking.

It is alleged Walker, of Gibbets, Langton Green, near Tunbridge Wells, was "particularly keen" on the girl drinking, and she became very drunk.

"Her memory ends," said Mr Dunkin in his opening speech at the start of Walker's trial. "She remembers being carried by someone and the next thing she remembers is waking up in a hotel room the next morning.

"The boy was there, there was vomit on the sheets and in the bin and she was only wearing some of her clothes from the night before when she was hideously drunk."

Despite also drinking vodka, the boy was said to have more of a recollection. He later told police Walker had carried the girl into the hotel, where he booked a standard double room.

The court heard Walker told the receptionist the girl was his drunk sister whom he had rescued from "a load of boys" from the pub.

Once in the room, the boy said he asked if they could leave, only for Walker to refuse because he had paid for the room.

The boy then nodded off in a chair but the jury heard he did not sleep throughout the night.

He recalled the girl being sick and later seeing some of her clothes by the side of the bed. Both she and the man were under a duvet but the girl was clearly asleep, the court was told, because she was snoring.

Walker is then alleged to have taken off his clothes and sexually assaulted her while she remained asleep throughout.

The next morning he got dressed, had breakfast and then left, giving the girl £10 for a taxi.

Once back at the children's home, the boy told the girl what he had seen and it was reported to staff. However, the youngsters initially lied, with the girl saying she had been at a house party.

But Mr Dunkin said she made references to a bald man called Andy, whom she also later described as being fat and having a wonky eye.

The police were called and again the girl did not initially tell them the truth. She later said she feared being sent to secure accommodation.

Walker was arrested on suspicion of rape, to which he told police: "It doesn't even work".

He said he liked the children's company and was chatting to them for about an hour and a half.

Walker denied giving them alcohol but said they must have helped themselves when he went to the toilet. His explanation for taking them to the hotel was the cold weather.

He told police the girl was being sick and so he and the boy took off her top and put her in bed. He denied any sexual touching and said he was incapable of sex.

But the prosecutor told the jury it could be sure that Walker sexually assaulted the girl.

"You may think it was something part of a plan, not a long-term plan but one which started when he began plying her with vodka and then took her back to the hotel," he added.

Walker's trial is expected to last a week.