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Former soldier jailed for sex with girl, 15, he met through Facebook

A former soldier who ignored repeated warnings not to have sex with a 15-year-old schoolgirl he met through Facebook has been locked up for 16 months.

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Mark Parkhill became an internet 'friend' of the victim through his sister, a judge heard.

The 20-year-old - living at a Wolverhampton City Centre hostel after being dismissed from the army for ill discipline - quickly established a relationship with the girl who lived outside the West Midlands, the city's Crown Court was told.

"She started coming to Wolverhampton while playing truant and there is a suggestion that her rail tickets were financed by him, " said Mr Bernard Linnemann, prosecuting.

"She spent a lot of time in the hostel where her presence was noticed and the defendant was spoken to on several occasions."

Parkhill was warned that the relationship was illegal and could land him behind bars but he turned a deaf ear to the advice and continued to see the girl after she was barred from the premises. This ultimately led to his eviction.

The couple last had sex on February 20 - his birthday - in a derelict building alongside a Wolverhampton canal, the court heard.

Then the girl - who had been reported as missing to police - was seen by officers with Parkhill in the city centre near Pipers Row at 2.30am on April 1.

He was arrested and subsequently admitted to detectives that the couple had sex on 'four or five' occasions despite knowing she was underage. The relationship lasted several months and at one time they discussed getting married.

She refused to make a statement or assist the prosecution and so the case had to rely on the confessions he had made to police in interview.

Mr Michael Anning, defending, said: "However inappropriate the relationship, there was no coercion. She was a willing partner but he was an adult and she was the child although the age disparity was not great."

Parkhill from Old Hall Street in Wolverhampton city centre, who was of previous good character, pleaded guilty to sexual activity with an under age child and was ordered to be detained in a Young Offenders Institution by Recorder Anthony Potter who told him: "You ignored all advice to the contrary and continued this relationship. Ultimately it led to you being evicted from the hostel.

"She and you were infatuated with each other but the law is in place to protect juveniles of her age from themselves."

The defendant was also placed on the Sex Offender Register for 10 years and made the subject of a five year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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