A PERVERT who sexually assaulted a young girl has been jailed for 12 years.

Stephen Owen, aged 61, was found guilty of 13 offences, including attempted rape and indecency with a child, following a two-day trial.

Bolton Crown Court heard that Owen, of Westhoughton Road, Adlington, started abusing a girl in the 1990s when he lived in Horwich.

He indecently assaulted her in a caravan when she was aged eight.

The abuse continued for five years, but she did not report it to police until she was 20.

Wagon driver Owen told the court she was lying, but the jury found him guilty.