A 35-YEAR-OLD man who had sex with a 12-year-old girl was jailed for 12 months on Friday.

Suhaimi Said pleaded guilty to the charge of having sex with the girl at his home last Oct 24. The girl accidentally called his mobile last August and he told her he was 28 while she said she was 12.

They started chatting regularly over the phone since then.

On Oct 24, after a birthday celebration, he took her to his home where they had consensual sex. They continued to keep in touch until he was arrested and jailed in December for drug offences.

District Judge F.G. Remedios said this was not an ordinary 'carnal connection'. 'You were very fortunate that the prosecution did not charge you with rape,' he said.

Suhaimi will serve the 12 months after completing his current seven-year nine-month and six-stroke sentence for drug offences. He could have been jailed for up to five years and fined up to $10,000 under the Women's Charter.