A teenager has admitted raping a 10-year-old girl as she walked home from school, police said.

The boy, 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to the charge on the first day of a retrial at Bristol Crown Court.

He had previously admitted charges of choking and sexually assaulting the girl in Exmouth, Devon, on October 4 last year when he was 16.

During the trial, jurors heard how the boy grabbed the girl – who he did not know – as she headed back after school.

He restrained her around the neck and raped her near a riverbank.

When asked why he carried out the attack, the boy said: ‘I had extraordinary emotions going through my head.

‘I was angry, I was scared, I was depressed, I was sad, amongst other things including loneliness.

‘I just wanted someone else – just anybody – to feel at least some of the way I was feeling.’

Devon and Cornwall Police said the boy had been remanded in custody and would be sentenced on November 11.

The force said it would make a full statement after the sentencing and reminded the public that the victim and defendant have lifetime anonymity and should not be identified.

In March, a jury acquitted the boy of attempting to murder the girl but were unable to reach verdicts on charges of rape and choking with intent to commit rape.

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