AN RAF sergeant gave a 13-year-old girl alcopops and sexually assaulted her at an Oxfordshire airbase.

Daniel Burt, who was married at the time, touched the girl in a bed at RAF Benson in 2001.

His victim, who said the incident will “affect my life forever”, reported the matter to police in 2010.

Burt, who has served in Afghanistan and Iraq, admitted sexual assault and was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Friday.

Nikki Duncan, prosecuting, said the 37-year-old “took (the victim) and (two other girls) to the family club and bought the girls Bacardi Breezers.

“(The victim) recalls feeling ill and was taken home to bed.”

Miss Duncan said the girl pretended to be asleep as Burt, who was drunk, entered the room and touched her under the covers.

Michael Phillips, defending, asked a family friend to give a character reference on Burt’s behalf.

The woman told the court: “He is wracked with guilt and remorse over these few moments of madness. He has never been free of the burden of the guilt of what he has done.

“It has had a devastating effect upon him and his family, and he has at times been suicidally depressed, and has never been able to forgive himself for these acts.”

Burt, who now lives at RAF Albrighton in Wolverhampton and currently remains employed by the force, was given a 12-month jail term, suspended for two years.

He must pay £1,200 costs, sign the sex offenders’ register and do a sex-offender group-work programme.