A teenage apprentice with a bright future was today spared a custodial sentence for sexually assaulting a girl aged 12.

The boy was 16 when he molested the child on a settee as they watched TV together at a house in Bradford.

Now 17, he denied the charge but was convicted last month after a trial at Bradford Crown Court.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to a 12-month Youth Rehabilitation Order today.

The court was told the girl confided in a friend about what the boy had done to her.

In mitigation, it was stated it was a one-one offence, wholly out of character.

The boy’s mother had drug and alcohol problems and he had led “a nomadic and chaotic lifestyle.”

Judge David Hatton QC made an order banning the teenager from contacting his victim.