A SUSPECT made a tearful telephone call to police to confess to molesting a teenage girl, a court heard yesterday.

David Fletcher had been released on bail after being quizzed by detectives investigating the abuse of the schoolgirl.

The 46-year-old, from Ferrryhill, County Durham, had vehemently denied the allegations when questioned.

After being freed while further inquiries were made, he called police and said: “I need to tell you, I did it. It’s disgusting.”

Fletcher was arrested and charged, and pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child when he appeared in court.

He was yesterday jailed for three years after Judge Peter Armstrong told him: “It is difficult to believe why it occurred, because you have no history of that kind of offending.”

Fletcher was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life, and was banned indefinitely from working with, or having unsupervised contact with, under-16s.

Paul Cleasby, in mitigation, told Teesside Crown Court: “He is eager to work with the agencies to ensure he does not re-offend in this way.

“He expresses extreme remorse and accepts that a prison sentence has to follow.

“He will do everything he can to prove to the court that what he did was a one-off aberration.

“It something he deeply regrets, and has weighed heavily on his conscience.

“He has blackened his character and brought disgrace upon himself. He wishes he could turn back the clock, but, of course, he cannot, and has to make the most of it.

“The best illustration of his remorse is the full confession he made over the telephone.”

Fletcher, now of no fixed address, wept in the dock as Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, outlined the case to the judge.

The judge told him: “You need help as well as punishment. You will receive that in prison and on your release.”

Mr Cleasby told the court: “He has generally enjoyed good employment throughout his life and is optimistic that that line of work will still be open to him.”