A MAN who groomed a schoolgirl with drugs and alcohol before having sex with her at his home has been jailed for four years.

Gareth Charlton told the teenager to keep their meetings secret, and once warned her to delete all text messages between them.

The 32-year-old was warned by police about contact with the girl, but carried on, prosecutor Shaun Dodds told Teesside Crown Court.

Charlton told her he wanted to give her 'kids, a house, everything a girl would dream of', Mr Dodds told Judge Peter Bowers.

The relationship came to light when the youngster told a friend about being given booze and cannabis, and teachers found out.

Charlton initially denied anything untoward had happened, but admitted three charges of sexual activity with a child at court.

Joanne Kidd, mitigating, said although he had many previous convictions, none were for sexual crimes, and none involved children.

"It is not suggested he is in the habit of frequenting school yards or seeking out very young people," Miss Kidd told the court.

"He was not preying on her, persuading her to do things she didn't want to. Cannabis and alcohol was not used to facilitate the offence."

Charlton, of Ryton Crescent, Seaham, County Durham, was also banned from having unsupervised contact with girls aged under 16.

Judge Bowers said: "The aggravating feature is you ignored the warning, and tried to get her to delete any messages off her phone.

"The girl was clearly somewhat flattered by your attention - being an older man and able to take her to your flat."