A widower who held an open house for teenagers where he supplied them with alcohol and cigarettes has been jailed for five years for abusing two boys.

Jim Dargavel, who used to be on the PTA at John Bentley School in Calne and a helper at Trowbridge Town, targeted the lads when they had passed out through drink.

But when the victims came to they found the old soldier, now aged 70, carrying out a sex act on them.

Dargavel, of Stockwood Road, Chippenham, pleaded not guilty to indecent assault on a child under 16 and indecent assault.

He insisted his teenage victims, now men in their late 20s, were wrong and the incidents they described never took place.

But following a trial at Swindon Crown Court earlier this year he was found guilty on both counts.

The first victim was just 15 when he and other boys from the area used to go to Dargavel's flat to drink and smoke in the mid to late 1990s.

The boy would often pass out, through alcohol, or frequently be asked to stay back 'for one more drink,' as his friends left and then lose consciousness.

On at least five occasions he woke to find Dargavel, then in his 50s, sexually assaulting him, but he was too weak to force him off, the court was told.

The second victim had been a visitor to the flat at around the same time and bumped into Dargavel in a pub some time around the turn of Millennium.

After having a drink together the boy, then just 17, agreed to join him in his flat for one more, and took an ecstasy tablet before going there.

Like the other victim, he too passed out and woke to find he was being sexually abused by his host.

The court was told he managed to fight off his attacker and fled, being physically sick as he went.

Simon Burns, defending, urged the court not to impose a jail term describing his client as 'an old fool'.

He said were he to receive a jail term he would lose his accommodation and struggle to find somewhere to live when he came out.

After six years in the army and six in the reserves he said he left with an honourable discharge and had a number of jobs including qualifying as a bus driver.

He said he also worked in the community including being thanked by the community for his work on the PTA at John Bentley.

Dargavel also helped out at Trowbridge Town, he said, and took part in amateur dramatics in Bradford on Avon.

Character witness Michael Davies, a retired lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy, said: "He is a very decent caring individual who wants to help people."

Jailing Dargavel, Judge Euan Ambrose referred to the younger victim's statement saying: "He said being sexually assaulted by you completely messed up his life."

He told him "I do not accept the submission that these were totally opportunistic. This was repeat offending with a number of aggravating features.

"On your behalf I have been asked to consider either a suspended sentence of imprisonment or a direct alternative to custody in a community order.

"Quite simply these offences are far too serious for that, they are so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified."

As well as jailing him for five years he also barred him from working with children.