A SUFFOLK teenager could face a prison sentence after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl who had been binge-drinking.

Jane Hunt

A SUFFOLK teenager could face a prison sentence after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl who had been binge-drinking.

Dean Royal, 18, of Thetford Road, Brandon, had denied raping the 15-year-old girl and an alternative charge of sexually assaulting her.

After a week long trial at Ipswich Crown Court the jury was yesterday discharged from returning a verdict on the rape charge after failing to reach agreement.

The jury then returned a guilty verdict on the alternative charge of sexual assault

Judge John Holt adjourned the case until next month for a pre-sentence report and warned Royal, who was 16 at the time of the attack, that all sentencing options would be open to the court.

During the trial the court heard that the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had gone out with a friend in Brandon after her parents had left her in the charge of her older sister while they were away for the night.

The girls had given a youth money to buy alcohol for them and they had then gone to a play area near Brandon Leisure Centre where they met up with other teenagers.

The 15-year-old girl, who told the court she didn't usually drink, had drunk an alcopop and half a litre of vodka and had ended up at a skateboard park a short distance away.

During the evening the girl's sister had become concerned when she didn't answer her mobile phone and after making enquiries among her friends went to the skateboard park.

There she found her sister lying on the ground with her top pushed up - revealing her bra - and naked from the waist down. She was covered in mud and appeared to be unconscious, the court heard.

After the police became involved a doctor tried to examine the girl but had to stop when she became too upset for him to continue.

After his arrest Royal denied having any sexual contact with the girl and he did not give evidence during the trial.