A man was jailed on Tuesday after he spiked an Ealing pub goer's drink with the intention of sexually assaulting him.

Eamon Kelly, 58, of Bramber Court, Ealing, was sentenced to two years and four months' imprisonment at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday, 30 November.

He will also be on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

The court heard that on Sunday, 29 August Kelly was at a pub in The Broadway, Ealing, sitting at a table alone.

The victim, a man aged in his 30s, was sat at the same table drinking alone.

Throughout the evening, the victim told police that Kelly had been smiling at him in an odd manner.

When the victim finished his drink he noticed two tablets at the bottom of the glass – one was still whole and the other was three quarters dissolved.

The victim confronted Kelly asking if he had put the pills in his glass, but he just continued to smile and did not say anything.

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The victim confronted Kelly again, which caught the attention of the pub's staff.

Not knowing what had happened, the staff asked the victim to leave the pub.

The victim then explained the situation and the staff reviewed the pub's CCTV.

The CCTV showed Kelly removing something from his left arm jacket pocket and dropping something into the victim's glass.

Staff called the police who attended a short time later and arrested Kelly for administering a noxious substance.

Whilst being searched in custody, a small vial containing what appeared to be crushed tablets was found in a zip pocket in his left arm.

Thankfully the victim did not require hospital treatment.

During his police interview Kelly admitted that he had crushed the pills many years ago and put them away.

He found the pills the day before the incident and he told officers he was curious about what would happen if he put the pills in someone's drink to see what the reaction would be.

He was charged on Monday, 30 August and Kelly pleaded guilty at Willesden Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 31 August to administering a substance with the intent to stupefy to allow sexual gain.

Detective Constable Benazir Bhati, the investigating officer from the West Area's CID, said: "Kelly had gone to the pub that evening with the intention of drugging someone without their knowledge so he could sexually assault them.

"Thankfully the victim was vigilant and noticed the tablets and alerted staff, which meant officers were quickly able to get to the venue to arrest the suspect and carry out time-crucial enquiries.

"We take allegations of spiking extremely seriously and we will robustly target those who commit this heinous crime.

"We would encourage people who witness anything suspicious when they are out, or believes they have been spiked, to report it to bar staff or the police as soon as possible.

"We would also urge people not to put any substance (including alcohol), for whatever reason, into someone else's drink without their knowledge – as by doing so you could be committing a criminal offence."