VIENNA An Austrian court sentenced a British soldier to nine years in prison on Tuesday for raping and sexually abusing a six-year-old girl in the province of Tyrol. The 30-year-old soldier, who has not been named, was at a British army adventure camp in the Stubaital Alpine valley and had entered the girl's unlocked family home while drunk in the early hours of the morning, a spokesman of the Tyrolean court in Innsbruck said. The soldier pleaded guilty but said that in large part he did not remember what happened that night, according to the spokesman

VIENNA An Austrian court sentenced a British soldier to nine years in prison on Tuesday for raping and sexually abusing a six-year-old girl in the province of Tyrol.

The 30-year-old soldier, who has not been named, was at a British army adventure camp in the Stubaital Alpine valley and had entered the girl's unlocked family home while drunk in the early hours of the morning, a spokesman of the Tyrolean court in Innsbruck said.

The soldier pleaded guilty but said that in large part he did not remember what happened that night, according to the spokesman.

Police arrested the man in front of the victim's house in the town of Neustift on November 29 after he was found by the girl's father.

The soldier's lawyer said he planned to appeal against the verdict, the court spokesman said.

If he loses the appeal, the soldier can ask to serve the prison sentence in Britain, the spokesman said.

The Ministry of Defence in London confirmed the soldier's conviction and nine-year sentence but declined further comment on the case.

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle, additional reporting by Stephen Addison)

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