A 34-year-old man who drunkenly groped a teenage girl was today handed a community order.

Daniel Rowland, of Wueen's Crescent, Clanfield, who earlier admitted one count of sexual assault, touched his 16-year-old victim as they sat on a sofa on February 15 last year.

The victim ran upstairs to raise the alarm and Rowland was arrested later that day, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Miss Drake said Rowland told police it was “a bit of joking horseplay”.

Rowland was due to stand trial on March 1, but failed to appear and was found by police in a field “between Witney and Oxford”, the court heard.

He appeared in front of a judge the following day and admitted the charge.

Diane Chan, defending, said Rowland had drunk a small bottle of vodka and three cans of lager on the day of the assault.

She added: “He wishes he could turn back the clock, but he can’t. He has lost his wife and the family that came with his wife, and lost his home.”

Judge Julian Hall gave him a community order with a three-year supervision requirement and told him to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years.

He was also told to pay £250 costs.