A MAN who stroked the cheek of a 12-year-old with severe learning difficulties and asked the mother if he could have sex with the girl has been jailed for 18 months.

Imran Khan, 41, approached them on a bench in the Kirkgate Centre on October 30 last year, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Ian Mullarkey said Khan, of Otterburn Close, Little Horton, stared at the girl, who cannot be identified, before rubbing her head.

He asked: “Can I have sex with her?” The mother smelled alcohol.

Khan told police he was “very drunk”. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a child under 13.

Judge David Hatton QC said: “This was a very brief assault, but the effect was rather more significant because of the vulnerability of the child.” He made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and put Khan on the sex offenders’ register. for ten years.