A 33-YEAR-old man who had sex with a 14-year-old girl has had his jail sentence cut.

Karl Miller said he had drunk about ten cans of beer and had a couple of cannabis cigarettes, while a blood alcohol test on the girl gave a reading which would have made her three-and-a-half times over the drink-driving limit.

Miller, now 34, of Cleeve Court, Glebe, Washington, Wearside, was jailed for nine months at Newcastle Crown Court last August 2 after pleading guilty to having unlawful sexual intercourse and possessing cannabis resin.

London's Criminal Appeal Court yesterday cut his term to six months, and he will be registered as a sex offender for seven years instead of ten.

Judge Kenneth Zucker said Miller originally faced a rape charge but the prosecution did not proceed with that count.

When interviewed by police, he admitted from the outset he had done wrong.

"He is a young man of 34, has never been in any trouble with the police and otherwise lived a perfectly blameless life," the judge said.

A report described his remorse and said it was unlikely he would reoffend or pose a risk of harm to the public.

Judge Zucker referred to the grounds of appeal which included noting it had been a single offence, the first committed by a man of good character, who was also vulnerable, having suffered a breakdown previously.