A teenager who attacked, strangled and raped a six-year-old boy has been jailed for five years after a judge described his crime as horrendous.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted luring his victim from a playground in Bartlemas Close, Cowley, on August 5 last year, before marching him to fields in Headington, where he was raped.

The teenager threw his victim to the ground, fracturing his collar-bone, abandoning him some distance from his home.

It emerged at Oxford Crown Court yesterday that the 15-year-old had a previous conviction for battery on an eight-year-old boy two years ago and was under a nine-month supervision order for an arson attack when the rape took place.

Det Sgt Ian Richings, who led the police investigation, said he had reservations about how well social services and the youth offending team were monitoring the 15-year-old at the time of the incident.

Susan Reed, for the prosecution, said: "The six-year-old was playing near his home with a sibling and young cousins, when he was approached by the 15-year-old, who asked the little boy if he wanted a game of golf.

"He was taken by the teenager to Southfield Golf Club, past the golf course and into a woodland area about half a mile from the play area and the boy's home.

She said the boy had said the teenager had thrown him to the ground and when he landed his arm had begun to hurt.

The victim had also described having been held around his neck.

Ms Reed said: "The victim's mother said a previously bright and happy little boy continues to show signs of distress, crying and being reluctant to play outside.

"He had particularly displayed fear of a male school teacher."

Michael Grieve, defending, said his client was a "very vulnerable boy of low intelligence", who had been sexually abused by his family.

Sentencing the 15-year-old, judge Peter Crawford QC said: "You enticed a young boy of six from his playmates and took him into a wood where you used him as a sexual toy.

"You didn't think of him as a person with feelings like yours, but simply as something that you could use to relieve your sexual and aggressive tensions."

He imposed the five-year term for the rape, with a two-year sentence for the assault causing grievous bodily harm, to run concurrently.

Speaking after the case, Det Sgt Richings said: "I am pleased we arrested the right person so early on in the case, largely due to the local knowledge of Pc John Brown, Headington area beat officer, who remembered the teenager's previous conviction.

"He is a major danger to society, and he has shown no remorse or regret whatsoever for this crime.

"While five years may seem a relatively short sentence compared with the gravity of the crime, it is long enough for there to be some hope that this boy will be rehabilitated."