A MAN jailed for five years is likely to be deported following a sex attack on a teenage girl as she walked home alone in the early hours.

Judge Niclas Parry told Syrian refugee Amer Aldeii that it was a sad indictment on society that a young woman of 18 could not walk the streets of Wrexham safely.

The judge told him that his were "the acts of a predator".

The 32-year-old – who said he wanted to offer her a pizza and check if she was alright – was convicted of a sex assault and assault by penetration in an alleyway as the girl made her way home.

He was cleared of a further charge of attempted rape.

Aldeii, of Lorne Street in Wrexham, followed the two-day trial at Mold Crown Court with the aid of a Syrian interpreter and in view of the sentence he is now likely to be deported.

The judge ordered that he register with the police as a sex offender for life.

An indefinite restraining order was made not to approach the victim in any way including social media.

Sentencing her, Judge Parry said: "You saw this girl for what she was, alone at a quarter to four in the morning, clearly an easy target."

He had followed her for some minutes.

"You had a good look at her and you formed the view that you wanted to have sexual activity with her," he said.

Although he was within 100 yards of his home he could not control his urges.

He turned left where he knew there was a dead end alleyway and came across the victim, sitting down with her head against railings, in a helpless state.

Despite her best efforts he went from kissing her to kissing her breasts to penetrating her with his fingers.

It was not a short incident and lasted some minutes.

While initially opportunistic, when he saw his chance he planned to do what he did and he clearly targeted her because she was vulnerable.

He said the victim had to re-live everything by giving evidence at trial.

Judge Parry said he took into account that he was a man of good character with no previous convictions and that the impact of the sentence would be devastating on his family because his immigration status would be affected by the sentence.

In a victim impact statement read by barrister Anna Pope, prosecuting, the teenager said that her personality had changed.

She used to be bubbly but now tended to keep herself to herself.

When she now walked alone, she had her hand over the button on her phone ready to call the police and she was always looking over her shoulder.

She was more cautious and it had an impact on her sleep.

The victim said she had flashbacks about what happened down the alleyway.

She would wake up in a panic, and would talk in her sleep, saying "no".

The jury heard how the victim tried her best to fight him off in the early hours of September 9.

He pulled her jump suit down and pushed her down before indecently assaulting her.

The teenager and a friend left a club at 4am but when told there would be an hour's wait for a taxi she left the friend and started to walk home alone although she had been warned by her family not to do so.

But she was followed by a man carrying a pizza box.

In the alley he grabbed her and tried to kiss her, despite her telling him to stop.

She scratched his face, he grabbed her phone off the floor and activated an alarm.

A friend rang and she told her “I’ve nearly been raped” and her mother who received the SOS alarm call was out looking for her in her pyjamas.

Two passers-by helped after hearing her cries of "help" and "get off".

The defendant said he feared something was wrong, he went to help her and offered her some pizza and he alleged that she asked him for a kiss.

He claimed what took place was with her consent but he never had any intention to rape her.

"I am happy with my wife and children and happy with my family life," he said.

"Why would I think to rape her? She consented to what I did."

Defence barrister Mark Connor said after the conviction that his client was a man of good character and the impact of the conviction on his family would be catastrophic.

"He will be deported at some stage. His family will have to make a decision they go with him, wherever that may be, or not.

"It will have a significant impact on his three children and wife," he said.

The court heard how he fled his country of birth and ended up in Wrexham.

That night he visited friends at the mosque, agreed to go to Liverpool with a friend where he had two vodkas and Red Bulls, and arrived back in Wrexham at 2.30am.

He had two more drinks, was walking home, he denied following her and said he went down the alleyway to see if he could help her.

"He thought she was sick or something.

Aldeii alleged that she initiated what happened and was completely surprised when she started screaming and used her mobile phone.

Cross-examined, he denied that he "saw his chance" and followed a young woman who he was sexually attracted to into the alleyway.