A 50-year-old man attempted to groom young girls online for sex and get them to send him explicit photos of themselves, a court heard.

When police seized Paul White's computer equipment they also discovered he had downloaded indecent images of children and he was also found in possession of extreme porn images, Norwich Crown Court heard.

The court was told that White had initially posed as an 18 year-old to one of his victims.

White of Fir Close, Brecklands, Mundford, near Thetford, admitted attempting to engage girls in sexual activity, possession of extreme porn and indecent images of children and also sexual assault on a female.

He was jailed for 33 months and placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Sentencing him, Judge Stephen Holt said the images and messages were discovered after police seized his laptop and computer equipment as part of their investigation into a sex assault by White, when he touched a young girl on the breasts.

He said they found indecent images and extreme porn and also discovered he had been messaging teenage girls attempting to groom them for sex.

He said White had contacted one 15 year-old girl asking her for sex and told another victim he was 18 and wanted to meet up with her for sex.

Judge Holt said White also asked the girls for explicit photos.

However, he said White deserved credit for his guilty pleas and that his behaviour had been over just a short period, not weeks or months.

He also made White subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 12 years and banned him from working with children for life.

Judge Holt accepted that White had only attempted to meet up with the girls and had never actually met any of the victims he contacted online.

Judge Holt added: 'You are deeply ashamed of what you did.'

Joanne Eley for White, said: 'These are attempts. There is no actual contact.'

She said he had never offended in this way before and said he was a hard-working man of previous good character.

She said he deserved credit for his guilty pleas.