A MAN has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after being convicted of having sex with a schoolgirl he ran away with for five days.

Clark Hall took advantage of the 14-year-old after taking her to Swansea — more than 160 miles from her concerned family.

He was cleared by a jury of kidnap but was found guilty of two counts of sex with a child.

During the sentencing hearing Hall's defence lawyer, Michael Orsulik, said: "He wasn't grooming her, or preparing her for anything, that wasn't the objective.

"In his mind, he was doing her a favour. She said to him that he was 'the only thing keeping her together at the moment'. It's not all bad," added the barrister.

Judge Zoe Smith, sitting at Reading Crown Court, said the minimum guideline sentence was four years, but she ruled that there were exceptional circumstances, including the fact that Hall had the intelligence and sense of someone aged only 14.

She told him: "In starting this relationship with this girl, you embarked on behaviour that is deemed criminal by the law.

"You also, at a time when she was vulnerable, took her to Wales for a number of days. However, this is an exceptional case. The jury has found you not guilty of kidnap.

"She was a strong character and she was the prime mover in going to Wales, and a prime mover in instigating sex between you.

"But you were the older person, so you should have resisted and made sure she stayed at home."

She ordered Hall, of Beacons View Road, Clase, Swansea, to serve 15 months behind bars before being released on license for a further 15 months.

He was also told to sign an order which prevents him from working with children for the next 10 years.

During Hall's trial, the jury heard that the defendant was living in a guesthouse in London Road, Slough, when he met the girl, close to her father's home in the town.

The court heard earlier that the teenage victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, decided to run away from her home after a row with her father on November 17.

She was found in Mr Hall's bed the next day and he was arrested before being released. However, three days later the girl had another argument with her father, and she met up with the defendant at Slough railway station before they went off together.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was reported missing to Thames Valley Police between November 21 and 27 last year and a missing persons hunt was launched.

Hall was arrested following a joint operation between Thames Valley Police and South Wales Police, which included a series of raids and house- to-house searches in Beacons View Road, where he was found.

The jury of five men and seven women took less than two hours to find Hall guilty of having sexual activity with a child.

The 22-year-old, who had previous convictions for burglary, theft and perverting the course of justice, told police at the time of his arrest that he thought the girl was 16, but denied having sexual intercourse with her.