A 21-year-old Pembroke man who gave a 14-year-old girl a sexually transmitted disease has been jailed for four years.

In Magistrates' Court yesterday Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves told the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that he was disgusted with his actions, after the offender admitted that he had passed on the incurable herpes disease to the teenager.

"I grant him credit for his young age, for his guilty plea, and I take into account that this young lady is no angel herself," he said.

"But my first reaction is one of disgust. He knew he had an incurable disease and yet he still had sex with an unsuspecting young lady and damaged her life forever."

The court heard that the man took the teenager to his bedroom in November 2003 where he had sex with her.

Several days later she experienced irritation in her vaginal area and, after going to a doctor for an examination it was discovered she had contracted herpes. Medical records showed the offender had sought medical treatment in May 2001 and March 2002 when it was confirmed that he had herpes.

When asked if he had anything to say, the man said: "Some of this stuff isn't true; she never came to my house, I picked her up in St. George's. I never raped her, it never happened like that, she came on to me."