A teenager who took advantage of a drunk, underage girl and molested her after she willingly went into an alleyway with him has been locked up for 10 months.

Andrew Howard and the 14-year-old girl were both at a fair in Tunbridge Wells with others in November 2014. He had also been drinking.

Prosecutor Kieran Brand said the girl later told police she was “really, really drunk” and could not remember much about what happened.

She recalled being in the alleyway with Howard, then 18, and her leggings being down.

“She wasn’t sure if she passed out or simply couldn’t remember what happened,” Mr Brand told Maidstone Crown Court. “She said she hoped nothing had happened, but couldn’t be sure.

“She said she had seen him at the fair a couple of weeks before and he would have known her age. She could remember the defendant touching her breasts.

“She couldn’t remember how her leggings were lowered. The next thing she remembered was her friend coming to find her and her leggings were quickly pulled up.

"She was obviously underage and very drunk. This was an adult taking advantage of a drunken 14-year-old" - Judge Charles Macdonald QC

“She recalled telling him she was 15. She didn’t know why she didn’t tell him her true age.”

The friend told police when she saw the girl going off with Howard, she asked him: “Where do you think you are going? She is only 14.”

Howard told her it was nothing to do with her and the girl said: “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in half an hour.” The friend saw them kissing.

A short while later she saw the girl crying, drunk and distressed.

Pembury-born Howard, formerly of Wiltshire Way, Tunbridge Wells, now of Hythe Close, Folkestone, admitted he touched the girl indecently.

He pointed out the girl’s Facebook page stated she was 18.

Howard, now 20, admitted sexual activity with a child.

Judge Charles Macdonald QC said: “She was obviously underage and very drunk. This was an adult taking advantage of a drunken 14-year-old.”

He added: “There is substantial victim impact. This is clearly a case for custody.”

Howard’s name will appear on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and he will be barred from working with children or vulnerable adults.

Tom Stern, defending, said Howard, who studied mechanics, should be sentenced on his version of events.

“He was very drunk that night,” he said. “He describes how the victim was leading him to a field and was behaving in a sexual, forward way towards him.

“She was making repeated requests for intimacy - how she wanted intercourse to take place. He was saying no. He felt nervous because of lack of sexual experience.

“Alcohol was a disinhibiting factor.”