AN Aberystwyth father-of-three has been jailed after he gave a teenage girl cocaine before sexually assaulting her in his car.

Gareth Edwards, 36, of 34 Sunnymead, Bridge Street, was sentenced to five years in jail when he appeared before Swansea Crown Court.

Edwards denied the charges put before him but was found guilty following a trial.

A judge at Swansea Crown Court on Monday, 5 January, heard how Edwards stopped the girl from answering her phone during the ordeal and told her to lie about what had happened and not to tell the police.

The incident was reported to the police and the defendant was located and arrested following an appeal by officers for help from the public.

In a victim impact statement, which was read to the court by prosecution barrister, Helen Randall, the victim said the assault had changed who she is, and that she has gone from being a "bubbly person with lots of friends" who enjoyed socialising to being "withdrawn" and more isolated.

The victim added that Edwards had given her cocaine to take advantage of her and "he knows what he did that night".

The teenager added that giving evidence at the trial had been stressful and at one stage she had not been sure if she could go ahead with it, but she said she did it "to keep other girls safe".

Edwards was found guilty at trial and the sentencing hearing was told that he had 24 previous convictions for 27 offences, the last being for malicious communications in December 2023 for which he was given a community order - an order he went on to breach five times.

Darren Almeida, for Edwards, said it was clear from the pre-sentence report that the defendant maintains his innocence.

Mr Almeida added that the complainant had consumed a number of substances on the night in question and said there was no evidence that the defendant had pressurised or forced her into taking cocaine, and he asked the court to find that cocaine had not been used to facilitate the offending.

The barrister said that the father-of-three had been acting as a Welsh language mentor while on remand in prison and had a trusted job, and he said "to use the vernacular" his client just wants to "keep his head down" while in custody.

Judge Huw Rees told Edwards the complainant had been intoxicated, vulnerable, and two decades his junior when she got into his car on the night in question.

He told him: "You took advantage of the situation. You took advantage of her for what she was or what you perceived her to be."

Edwards was sentenced to five years in prison.

He will serve half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

The judge also ordered that Edwards be a registered a sex offender for the rest of his life.