Partygoer Aaron McConnell has been sentenced to prison after raping a teenage girl in a flat in Devizes.

McConnell, 20, of Melksham House, Tidworth, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court last Friday to an indeterminate term for public protection and will not be eligible to apply for parole until December 2009.

The court heard McConnell and the 16-year-old girl had been at a party and McConnell raped her as he walked her home on August 12 last year. The victim was too drunk to consent.

Det Sgt Ben Mant of Trowbridge CID said: "The sentence of the court is a warning to men who take advantage of women in this way.This case shows offenders cannot abuse victims suffering from alcohol or drugs and then claim consent was given. Consent can only be given freely.

"All cases of rape are abhorrent and cause unbelievable distress to the victims, their families and friends with often lifelong implications. The victim now has to come to terms with this trauma."

A year ago, Wiltshire police launched OP XS, designed to address the problem of excessive drinking and the misery it causes.

The campaign highlighted the sometimes lifelong repercussions of one night of over-indulgence and drunken stupidity.

Police visited clubs, pubs, off-licences and shops to ensure licensing laws were being adhered to, and to warn of the dangers of binge drinking.