ASHLEY POTTLE (19) of Queen Elizabeth Drive, Crediton, was sent to prison for eight months when he appeared before Exeter magistrates charged with sexually assaulting a 17-years-old Czech schoolgirl visiting Devon on a foreign exchange trip. He pleaded guilty. The magistrates were told that Pottle was part way through a course run by the probation service when he decided to go on a night-long crime spree, which had ended with the attack on the girl. Pottle had already been caught in a Tesco store at Crediton and had attacked staff before vandalising a nearby car. He will be dealt with separately by the magistrates for offences inside and out of the store. Judge Phillip Wassall told him that the assault offence had occurred: "When you were subject to a community order and in an advanced stage of a 'Thinking Skills' programme but it did not prevent you going on a spree of offending. "You went into Tesco, where you were banned and had clearly been drinking.You were challenged and assaulted two store workers before going out and committing damage. "That is the background to this serious sexual assault on a complete stranger. The victim was a 17-years-old schoolgirl, walking alone at night. "In your defence it has been suggested that you are a vulnerable young man. You chose someone even more vulnerable as your victim. "This was very frightening for her. She suffered a bruise and a scratch on her arm and is now, understandably, scared to go out on her own at night." Mr Gordon Richings, prosecuting, said Pottle had been drinking before the incident in the Tesco store. After the assault Pottle went home, where police found him in bed, hiding under a duvet. Mr Stephen Nunn, defending, described Pottle as: "A troubled young man who suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, who would benefit more from help in the community than from going to jail."