A “socially isolated” teenager persuaded young girls to send him indecent images of themselves and threatened to post them on the internet, a court heard.

Overweight Oliver Horwood used a false identity while having perverted online chats with 10 victims, aged between 13 and 15.

Then aged 17, he talked about threesomes and encouraged the girls to take intimate photos. He asked one to send him an image of her performing a sex act.

Maidstone Crown Court was told Horwood, now 20, of Sinclair Way, Darenth, threatened to expose two of the girls on the web if they did not do as he asked.

He admitted two offences of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and three of inciting child prostitution or pornography between February and May 2014.

He also admitted making indecent images of children between July 2012 and September 2014. Police found 19 still photographs and two movie clips on his computer after his arrest last year.

Andrew Hope, defending, said none of the images were ever published or distributed and five of the 10 girls refused his demands.

Horwood, who had since lost six stone, had stopped the chats before his arrest.

“He went from being an overweight, socially-isolated young boy to someone who had started to turn his life around,” said Mr Hope.

“He clearly needs to be punished for what are deeply unpleasant offences, but in many senses his life has moved on quite dramatically since then.

“He has matured as an individual and is now leading a very productive life.”

Sentencing Horwood to 16 months youth custody, Judge Charles Macdonald QC said: “The offences arose out of a particular period in your life when you had a poor self image and poor family support,” he said.

“Things have changed impressively. But I’m dealing with an anxious case - a youth of 17 engaging in extremely unpleasant activity using a false identity to trick girls.

“The law is there to protect people from this behaviour and it must be discouraged and deterred.”

Horwood's and his name will appear on the sex offenders’ register a sexual harm prevention order was made, both for 10 years.