A WORCESTER factory worker plied a 10-year-old boy with glasses of whisky, a court was told.

The victim became drunk and sick and ended up in hospital after running home to his mother.

Police found that Ronald Reading, aged 48, was also drunk. He said he gave the boy alcohol to calm him down.

Reading admitted child cruelty. He was sentenced to a two-year community rehabilitation order with £150 costs at Worcester Crown Court.

Judge Michael Mott said if there had been evidence that the alcohol was leading to "something sexual" he would have jailed Reading for a long time.

"While in charge of this boy you had too much to drink yourself and acted like a complete fool," he added.

Reading, whose marriage had broken up, bought the boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - sweets and confessed that he gave him two glasses of whisky on August 3 this year, said Malcolm Parkes, prosecuting.

Headache

The boy ended up with a headache but refused to be breath tested, so there was no evidence about the exact amount he had drunk. There were no long-term effects.

Samantha Forsyth, defending, said it was a peculiar offence, although a Worcester Royal Infirmary report indicated the victim was alert and orientated when admitted.

She said Reading realised that what he had done was foolish. He followed the boy to his own home, telling his mother to get the police.

Earlier this year, Reading - formerly of Lear Close, Dines Green, who has left Worcester to make a new life in Telford - received three months jail for contempt of court after breaching a divorce agreement, added Miss Forsyth.