A man has been labelled a danger to the public and jailed for a total of 15 years after sexually abusing a teenage girl he plied with cannabis and alcohol.

Anthony Webster was today sentenced at Bradford Crown Court for sexual activity with a child, attacking a man in a pub and growing £7,457 of cannabis at his home.

Prosecutor Stephen Wood QC said Webster, 47, of Calderdale, had 29 previous convictions for 119 offences, including multiple offences of causing actual bodily harm as well as battery, burglary and theft.

Mr Wood said the sexual abuse was aggravated by the significant disparity in age, and the use of cannabis and alcohol.

A victim personal statement from the victim spoke of her “pain, hurt and confusion.”

The court heard that the police broke into Webster’s home on February 6, 2019, and found a cannabis grow in a tent in the cellar. Some of the plants were 7ft tall and its potential yield was almost one and a half kilos of skunk cannabis with a street value of £7,457.

Dried cannabis found in a tub in the living room was evidence of a previous crop.

The electricity meter had been bypassed and there were lighting power packs and multiple bottles of plant food.

After his arrest, Webster attacked a doctor out with his family in the Cat & Fiddle public house in Cheapside, Halifax, on August 9, 2019.

The victim, who was recovering from cancer surgery, was assaulted after he heard two men drug dealing in a cubicle.

Webster joined in the attack started by others. A teenager had already been dealt with in the youth court, Mr Wood said.

The doctor was kicked and punched while he was on the ground and his family were present. He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary with severe facial bruising, lacerations and bruising to his arms and back.

He told the court the attack had left him depressed and not wanting to go out in Halifax. It had had a devastating effect on his recovery from cancer.

Webster’s barrister, Kitty Colley, asked Judge Neil Davey QC to adhere to the principle of totality when sentencing.

Webster did not start the attack in the pub and the cannabis crop was to feed his own habit. He had been a regular user of the drug for many years.

Judge Davey jailed Webster for 13 years for sexually abusing the girl, with two years to run consecutively for the offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, making 15 years in all. The cannabis sentence was concurrent.

He told Webster he gave her cannabis joints and alcohol in order to use her as “his sexual plaything.”

He labelled him a dangerous offender at significant risk of causing serious harm to the public by the commission of further offences.

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made without limit of time and Webster must sign on the sex offender register for life.