���˿���

A 27-year-old man has been given a two-year sentence for committing sex offences against a 14-year-old girl.

Among the charges, Antrim Crown Court heard Gareth Williams, of Ballylesson Road in Ballymena, faced nine counts of sexual activity with a child.

Judge Alistair Devlin said the defendant was "predatory" and showed "absolutely no victim empathy or remorse whatsoever”.

He was ordered to spend half the term in jail and sign the sex offenders' register.

Victim 'entitled to be safe'

At an earlier hearing the 27-year-old also pleaded guilty to common assault and possessing class A cocaine.

The offences began at the victim's home in June 2022.

The judge said the teenager was subjected to sexual exploitation by an adult in a place where she “ought to have been entitled to be safe".

The court heard Williams used social media to contact the victim and arranged to meet her in a park.

He was arrested the following day and found in possession of a “small amount” of cocaine.

During police interviews, Williams accepted that he knew the girl was 14-years-old but he initially denied there had been any sexual or inappropriate contact.

The judge said the offences had caused "significant harm" to the victim and her mother.