A MAN has been jailed for 20 months for a drunken sexual assault on a woman.

Sergejs Litvins claimed he ‘misread the situation’ after downing alcohol, Bradford Crown Court heard.

His victim suffered flashbacks after the attack and had lost her confidence.

Litvins, 27, of Thackeray Road, Idle, Bradford, pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

The court heard he had touched the woman indecently.

In his basis of plea, Litvins said that with hindsight he should have realised how the woman felt and he was truly sorry.

Barrister Abdul Shakoor, for Litvins, said: "He is bitterly remorseful for his conduct.

“He can’t understand why he behaved in the way that he did. It’s a complete aberration in his life.”

Litvins broke down in tears as Recorder Tahir Khan KC told him that an immediate custodial sentence had to be passed for such serious offending.

The judge accepted that Litvins was remorseful and that the offending was out of character but he said a consequence of the attack had been that the woman no longer felt safe.

“Given the serious impact of your offending on the complainant, I can only impose a sentence of immediate custody,” he told a distressed Litvins.

Litvins will have to register as a sex offender with the police for the next ten years.