A Charing man who convinced a 14-year-old girl to send him indecent images of herself has been jailed for more than four years.

Nicholas Axon, 64, of Canterbury Road, pretended to be a 17-year-old boy when he sent messages to a girl in the West Midlands.

The pair exchanged phone numbers after meeting on a social networking site and continued to communicate, with Axon encouraging the 14-year-old to send him indecent images of herself.

But their conversations were discovered when the girl's father accidentally found an audio message from Axon on her phone while transferring data.

He reported the incident to his local police force, who informed Kent Police.

Axon was arrested for breaching a sexual offences prevention order, which was granted in 2010.

When arrested, he told officers: "I didn't want to go inside again. I'll go inside for this, even though I didn't know their age."

He was charged with possessing indecent images of children and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, as well as breaching the sexual offences prevention order.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court to four years and four months in prison.

DS David Shipley, from the child exploitation investigation team, said: "I would encourage parents to speak to their children about safe use of the Internet, and the dangers of speaking to people they don’t know online.

"I'm pleased that in this case we have been able to send Axon back to prison for breaching an order that was already in place, and for preying on a 14 year-old girl who believed she was speaking to a teenage boy."