A perverted burglar, who broke into a house and sexually assaulted a schoolgirl, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Ryan Barrett, now 20, of New Addington, has been placed on the sex offenders register for five years after trying to show his genitals to the 11-year-old during a break-in at a New Addington home.

He climbed into the house through a window the middle of night while its occupants, a mother and her daughter, were sleeping in October 2011.

After the daughter woke up he said he told the 11-year-old to open her mouth, unzipped his trousers and took out his penis before inviting her to look at it, Croydon Crown Court heard on Thursday.

The girl alerted her mother, before Barrett stole a mobile phone and made his escape.

He was caught and arrested after the police were able to trace him when he sold on the phone for £30.

Judge Nicholas Ainley called Barrett's crime "a burglary of the most serious category".

He said: "For anybody this would be a frightening experience. What faith can you have in the security of your home after that?"

He sentenced Barrett, who pleaded guilty to burglary and sexual assault of a child, to three-and-a-half years in a youth offenders' institute with 72 days deducted for time spent on tagged supervision.

Laura Herbert, defending, called for Barrett to be spared jailed because of his youth, saying a custodial sentence would only serve to punish, not to rehabilitate.

She said: "My client is a young man and he is certainly an immature young man. It was an impulsive act."