A teenager who groomed young girls online and then threatened to share indecent images of them has had his sentence cut.

The jail term has gone down from 12 years to nine on appeal.

Evan Prevett chatted online to girls in Canada, the US and Scotland, London’s Appeal Court heard.

He first persuaded, then blackmailed, them into sending him pictures or to undress for him over a webcam.

The 19-year-old, described as being “aggressive” towards his young victims, also threatened to kill and rape one girl - aged just 15 at the time.

His other victims were between 12 and 17 and he continued offending even after he was arrested.

Prevett, of Folkestone Road, Dover, was locked up for 12 years at Canterbury Crown Court in June last year after admitting a string of offences.

But his sentence was yesterday (Tuesday) slashed to nine years by senior judges who ruled his original punishment was too tough.

The court heard Prevett met his victims online and groomed them, telling them he was their boyfriend and persuading them to send him naked images or to take their clothes off in front of a webcam.

However, he turned nasty and blackmailed the girls into sending further images between June 2014 and July 2015.

He told one girl, in Texas, that he would send photos to her friends, family and school and shared a picture with her sister.

Another victim was sent an image of a woman with her throat cut and Prevett told her he would rape and murder her.

He admitted three counts of blackmail, three of causing or inciting a child to engage in pornography and one of taking an indecent image of a child.

Mrs Justice McGowan, sitting with Lord Justice Hamblen and Judge John Wait QC, ruled the sentence was too long, despite the serious nature of his crimes.

She said: “This was very serious and deeply unpleasant offending.

“He committed multiple offences against a number of young girls, first persuading, then forcing them to take off clothes.

“He made threats to send photographs to family members, but also to commit murder and rape.”

But she concluded: “Serious as this offending was, in our judgment the sentence was manifestly excessive when one has regard to his youth and immaturity.”