A man who barged into a woman's house and sexually assaulted her has been jailed for 20 months.

Nathan Dovey, 31, of Oakwood Drive, Wymondham, admitted the single charge at Norwich Crown Court yesterday.

Michael Clare, mitigating, said that his client was intoxicated at the time and behaved like a 'drunken idiot'.

He added that there had been no sexual motive, and that his client was, in fact, homosexual.

'He hasn't touched her bare skin; he's just made a complete fool of himself,' added Mr Clare. 'The victim has dealt with it maturely, eventually got him out of her house and felt completely insulted by it.'

Dovey was bi-polar, not taking adequate medication at the time and was remorseful, Mr Clare added.

Judge Anthony Bate, sentencing, said: 'I accept – given your own sexual orientation, which is well documented – that it was not motivated by sexual gratification, but it was a horrid thing to do.'

He noted that Dovey had a history of offending while drunk, though this was the first sexual offence.

'Alcohol is plainly a major trigger to your offending,' he said.

Dovey presented a 'high risk of serious harm to the public' and was jailed for 20 months.