A MAN has been jailed for a sex assault on a woman.

A court heard yesterday how John Brown, 64, carried out the assault after he had been to a Territorial Army Christmas ball.

His victim was a 39-year-old woman, Chelmsford Crown Court was told.

Brown, of Brick Street, Fordham Heath, admitted a sex assault on the woman and was jailed for two years.

He was also put on the sex offenders' register for ten years.

Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC told Brown his victim was in a vulnerable state at the time, having taken a drink or two with dinner and having been unwell.

The court heard the incident took place on December 16 last year after Brown had attended the dance.

Nneke Akaudolu, mitigating, said Brown's guilty plea had spared his victim the ordeal of giving evidence in court. Since the incident, he had lost his job as warehouse supervisor, the court heard.