A 54-year-old man has been jailed after admitting to having sexual relations with a minor

Paul Collins, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Friday 21 March for seven counts of sexual activity with a child.

He was jailed for five years and seven months by the judge. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Collins approached a vulnerable teenager in the street and gained her trust. He took advantage of her, plied her with drugs and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions over several days in 2022.

Officers attended Collins’ bedsit to arrest him for an unrelated matter, when they found the teenage girl with him.

The victim came to a police station a few days after Collins was convicted of the unrelated matter and told officers she had been raped and assaulted by Collins.