A DISGRACED pizza delivery driver from Swindon, jailed for sexual activity with a schoolgirl, has failed in a bid to clear his name.

Tahir Mehmood was jailed for four and a half years at Swindon Crown Court in August 2014 after jurors convicted him for having sex with a 15-year-old girl after taking her to an empty bungalow he kept for family visiting from Pakistan.

He insisted she look round the property as he took her home late at night, she said, and when showing her the bedroom he threw her on the bed and had sex with her, the court heard at the time.

She said she was too ashamed to report the matter straight away and the court was told she revealed what happened bit by bit in conversations with her best friend.

The girl initially told her they had sex, but when the other girl said he had also been asking her to sleep with him, she said he had forced himself on her.

Mehmood, who is married and has four step-children, says the girl, who he claimed he didn’t know was underage, consented to sexual activity.

Mehmood, 30, of Ermin Street, was accused of preying on his victim while working as a pizza delivery driver for Domino's in West Swindon, London's Appeal Court heard.

He lured the 15-year-old back to his house where sexual activity occurred.

Prosecutors said that, even if the sexual contact was consensual, Mehmood was well aware that his victim was under age.

He disputed this, insisting there was "no hard evidence" that he knew how young she was.

His case reached the Appeal Court today as Mehmood challenged the "safety" of his conviction.

But Lord Justice Simon, sitting with Mr Justice Holgate and Sir Kenneth Parker, rejected his complaints.

The judge dismissed arguments that the trial judge should have given jurors a specific direction about Mehmood's previous good character.

Refusing permission to appeal, he said he was "not persuaded that this ground is properly arguable".