Mustafa Botan, 36, of Harehills Lane, Harehills, cruised the streets searching for a prostitute for three hours before targeting his 18-year-old victim, who had left Rehab nightclub after drinking with friends.

Botan, gripped the girl's shoulders, bundled her into his car and locked the doors, Leeds Crown Court heard.

He offered to pay her for sex, started kissing her and launched a sexual assault as the terrified girl pleaded to get out of the car.

Botan claimed the girl had asked him for a cigarette and got into the car willingly.

He denied sexual assault in the early hours of January 22 this year in Leeds city centre, but was convicted by a Leeds Crown Court jury after a trial.

Scared

The girl pretended she wanted to see Botan again and gave him her phone number before escaping.

Botan called the number 18 times in the hours following the assault.

Judge Geoffrey Marson, QC, told him: "This was a young lady with presence of mind. She was scared that if she struggled too much you could have taken her somewhere.

"She was really scared as she put it and frightened. She thought of the idea of trying to placate you.

"Those who commit offences like this must understand that the courts have a duty to protect young women walking home in the early hours of the morning."

Botan, a Danish citizen originally from Somalia, was also made the subject of a lifetime sexual offences prevention order, banning him from contacting his victim or getting a job which involves lone women being in a car with him.