A paedophile who thought he was asking a 12-year-old girl to send him indecent images online was in fact communicating with an undercover police officer.

Gareth Hall from Ashford has now been given an extended jail term and detectives hope it “protects children from him in future”.

The former Lynsted Close resident sent the messages through a chat site in January – despite being subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) imposed in 2021 after he was found with indecent images on his mobile phones.

The court order forbade him from accessing the internet without informing the authorities, using devices without specific monitoring software on them and a range of other online activities.

The 32-year-old was arrested in February and charged with attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity, making indecent photographs and breach of a SHPO.

Hall admitted those charges and was jailed for nine years on Friday, May 12, at Canterbury Crown Court.

The court heard how analysis of his computer found he had been attempting to find teen chatrooms online. He had also been using a phone not disclosed to monitoring officers.

DC Sarah Jacobs, of Kent Police's paedophile online investigation team, said: “Officers apply for and obtain sexual harm prevention orders to protect children in Britain and around the world from abuse.

“Gareth Hall completely disregarded the court order imposed on him and continued to attempt to meet children online and talk them into sexual behaviour.

“I am pleased our investigators caught him and I hope the lengthy sentence now imposed, including an extra licence period, protects children from him in future.”