A Carlisle man who confessed to a pal that he had raped a woman has been jailed.

Harry Sayce, 22, was given a three year sentence at the city's crown court after he admitted one charge of rape.

The court heard how on June 5 last year the defendant forced the female to perform a sex act on him.

"Matters came to light as, in guilt, he confessed his crime to a friend the following day," said prosecutor Jon Close.

That confession - and the pal's disgust at what he had been told triggered a cascade of events leading to Sayce's arrest, said the prosecutor.

Sayce told police: "I've done a bad thing - the worst a person can do."

Had it not been for Sayce's confession, there would have been no prosecution, Judge Peter Davies was told.

After considering background reports, and a claim that Sayce, of Buchanan Place, Carlisle, was vulnerable, Judge Davies told the defendant: "I know and I am confident you are contrite and sorry."

But, ordering Sayce to sign the Sex Offenders' register indefinitely, Judge Davies added: "There has to be a custodial sentence, because it is rape."