A MAN with a criminal record for sexual offences has been jailed for three years.

Thomas Dixon, 34, pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault on a girl aged 14.

Cardiff crown court heard he had a previous conviction for indecently assaulting a 60-year-old woman and had been sentenced to five years imprisonment at Newport crown court for raping a woman with learning difficulties.

Dixon of Elmhurst Close, Trevethin, Pontypool, had been involved in an incident of "drink-fuelled madness," said his counsel Leighton Hughes. Prosecutor Matthew Roberts said that at about 8.40pm on June 19 the girl was playing with friends in the Pontnewynydd area of Pontypool.

When they cycled off she was left alone and sat on the steps of the British Legion Club in Hospital Road. Dixon who had been drinking approached her and asked her her name and age.

"Significantly he asked if she wanted to go to his flat. He smelt of drink and she described him as 'weird'," said Mr Roberts.

He continued: "She stood up and he grabbed her right arm and she pulled away."

Soon after, said Mr Roberts she spotted Dixon in a nearby lane. He was seen jumping over a barbed wire fence and injured himself. The girl told her mother what had happened and was seen to be distressed and crying saying: "Someone had tried to take her."

Dixon was arrested and accused of attempted abduction. He had an injured hand and torn jeans.

He said that on his way home he said goodnight to an unknown girl and denied grabbing her or attempting to abduct her.

Mr Hughes said he had not targeted anyone in the past and there was no explanation for his "bizarre behaviour."

He said he conceded there were "sexual undertones." Judge Philip Richards told him: "I'm afraid the criminal record you are accumulating shows that if you continue you will be sent to prison for a very long time, possibly for the rest of your life."

He said the pattern of his offending concerned the court greatly. "You approached a vulnerable 14-year-old girl, spoke to her inappropriately, grabbed hold of her causing her to run off after you suggested she might go to your flat, a suggestion meant to have sexual consequences."

The judge ordered that Dixon be on licence for a total of eight years, to register as a sex offender for life upon his release. He was also banned from working with children indefinitely