A university student who dreamed of becoming a solicitor has been jailed for slapping a woman in the face with his penis after she fell asleep at a house party.

John Luke Dale, 21, stripped down to his boxers and shoved his manhood in the young woman's face before hitting her across her cheek with his penis at the party in Nottingham.

The criminology undergraduate's actions only came to light when a friend, who filmed the entire act on his mobile phone, showed the video to his workmates.

John Luke Dale, 21, who was studying at Nottingham Trent University (pictured) at the time of the incident, stripped to his boxers and shoved his manhood in the young woman's face before hitting her with his penis

Police were called and Dale, from Monkston, Milton Keynes, who was studying at Nottingham Trent University at the time of the incident, was arrested.

He admitted sexual assault and was jailed for nine months at Nottingham Crown Court last month.

Details of the incident were revealed this week after lawyers tried to overturn the sentence at the Court of Appeal.

However, on Tuesday, three top judges rejected the case.

Refusing the appeal, Judge Alistair McCreath, sitting with Lord Justice McCombe and Mr Justice Spencer, said the offence had caused the woman 'obvious and significant distress'.

Judge McCreath said: 'One can see in stark form the distress caused to the victim of this offence and the continuing nature of it.

'The sentence which the judge imposed cannot possibly be wrong in principle.

'She struck a balance between the mitigating and aggravating factors and exercised her judgement in a manner which was open to her.'

In a victim impact statement, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the incident had made her feel violated.

She said: 'It makes me think that it could still be out there in someone's possession and that anyone could have it.

'Knowing that it could exist petrifies me.'

Dale, from Milton Keynes, was jailed for nine months at Nottingham Crown Court (pictured) last month and had an appeal to overturn his sentence rejected by the Court of Appeal this week. He has since left the university

Trevor Burke QC, defending, argued that Dale's sentence was too tough and claimed that the young man had received no sexual gratification from the act.

He said: 'It was a stupid drunken incident that lasted a very brief period of time, where he slaps his flaccid penis on the head of a sleeping woman.

'It was extremely unpleasant, but not driven by any sexual motivation on his part.'

Mr Burke said the student had done everything he could to make up for the offence, vowing to keep away from the university until his victim had graduated.

He had moved back to his family home, where he was being kept under curfew by his parents and working for his dad to earn money to pay the victim compensation.