A 41-year-old man who admitted committing “horrific” acts on a child has been jailed.

Peter Woolley, from Bristol, was jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to three counts of attempted rape of a child under 13 and one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 years old.

Woolley, who appeared at Bristol Crown Court for sentencing on Monday, December 2, was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a Restraining Order. He also received a lifetime ban from working with children and vulnerable adults and will be placed on the sex offenders register.

The court heard how, over a four-year period, the defendant sexually assaulted and attempted to rape the victim in Bristol.

The victim told his mother in 2020, who then alerted the police, but the accused fled to Jamaica the day after the most recent incident.

On his return to the UK four years later in August, he was arrested, questioned, charged and detained.

In a victim impact statement, she said: “I am sensitive to things that never worried me. I cry sometimes and get angry and annoyed by little things that wouldn’t have affected me before.

“These days I like to spend time alone in the dark in my room. It’s quiet and I feel at peace. I sometimes listen to music when I’m in my room to help me be at peace.

“I feel uncomfortable around men. I am conscious of the clothes I wear and I feel like men are always looking at me.

Officer handling the case, DC Elizabeth Howell said: “I must commend the continued courage shown by the victim. No one should be subjected to attacks of this nature, but the fact that it happened at such a young age makes the situation even more horrific.

“She has shown incredible endurance and courage over the last few years as we attempted to bring Woolley back to the UK from Jamaica and into our care. Eventually he returned to the UK of his own accord, but we were waiting for him.

“The judge described Woolley as robbing the victim of her childhood, and I only hope that this sentence brings justice to the victim and her family as they continue to come to terms with what happened to her.”