A 28-year-old woman who had sex with an Ipswich schoolboy and bought his silence with cigarettes and clothes has been jailed for five years and seven months.

Sentencing Sarah-Louise Netherwood, Judge David Pugh said the victim, who was only 12 when she had sex with him, had accused her of stealing part of his childhood and leaving him mentally scarred.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that Netherwood had sex with the boy regularly over a period of up to two weeks.

Joanne Eley, prosecuting, said offences came to light when the boy told a family friend that he had had sex with Netherwood and that she had made him do it.

She said the boy said the sex took place on a sofa and happened “every night, sometimes twice".

Images of the pair lying on a sofa were discovered as well as messages between them discussing sex.

Miss Eley said Netherwood had bribed the boy by buying him cigarettes, clothes and a haircut not to tell anyone.

When asked by police if he’d used a condom he replied: “No. Commando," and said he realised what was happening was wrong.

He said Netherwood knew his age and had told him: “Age is a number” and that it didn’t matter.

Netherwood, of Brooks Road, Cambridge, admitted four offences of inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

In addition to being jailed, she was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order until further order, and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

She was also banned from contacting the victim until a further order

She will have to serve two-thirds of the prison sentence.

Matthew Sorel-Cameron, for Netherwood, who has no previous convictions, had been in custody in March and it had been her first taste of prison.

He said she had five children and said that if anyone did anything to them she would” go mad”.

“She recognises the anger that will be felt by her conduct,” said Mr Sorel-Cameron.

He said Netherwood had been adopted as a baby and had a difficult and traumatic childhood.

He said she didn’t accept bribing the victim not to tell anyone by buying him presents.

He said she had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD) which caused her to act impulsively and indulge in risky behaviour.

Mr Sorel-Cameron said Netherwood hadn’t behaved in this way before or after the offences.