A 'depraved' north Norfolk man travelled more than 200 miles to meet and abuse a child.

Jeffery Batty, of Rectory Road, Edingthorpe, has been jailed, after admitting several child sex offences.

He was sentenced to six-and-a-half years' imprisonment, with an extended licence period of eight years, at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday, February 20, after pleading guilty to 17 charges.

Batty, 50, continued to commit offences despite already and knowingly being under police investigation, and will be placed on the sex offenders' register for life and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

In January 2019, Batty travelled from Norfolk to Rownham Services, off the M27 in Hampshire, with the expectation of meeting and abusing an 11-year-old child.

However, upon arrival, he was met and arrested by officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), who had been investigating Batty over a number of months.

Despite being charged with arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and 11 offences of possession and distribution of indecent images in August 2019, he continued to commit similar offences. This culminated in another arranged meeting with an eight-year-old child after being released on bail.

Before he was able to travel, Batty was arrested at home, and subsequently charged with a further five offences. These included arranging to meet another child for the purpose of sex, possessing and distributing indecent images and videos of children, and he was remanded.

He pleaded guilty to all charges at Southampton Crown Court on December 6, 2019.

Detective Inspector Phil Attwood said: "Batty is clearly a depraved, dangerous individual who was fully committed to undertaking abhorrent abuse of children.

"It is only right that he has received a lengthy prison sentence, and I'd like to highlight the work of the investigators involved in this case for ensuring that he was unable to carry out his sordid intentions.

"This investigation forms part of our continued priority to protect children from sexual exploitation from those who seek to do them harm."

Anyone with information on child abuse or any victims should report it to police on 101.