A sales representative from Herne Bay who met a 13-year-old girl for sex after claiming he was only 15 has been jailed.

David Warrener, of Reculver Drive, admitted three counts of sexual activity with the girl, and one count of meeting her in Brighton following grooming.

The 25-year-old was sentenced to four years and eight months behind bars at Lewes Crown Court.

Det Sgt Paul Hitchcock said: “The grooming had taken place for over a year on an online app called ‘ooVoo’, where Warrener had pretended to be a 15-year-old boy.

“It culminated in him driving to Brighton and engaging in sexual activity with her in his car near Preston Park in August last year.

“He then continued to message the girl, telling her that she could get into trouble if she called the police.

“However, fortunately the girl did report it soon after the offence, and he was identified after extensive enquiries linking a ‘ooVoo’ account to his address in Kent.”

Warrener, who has been placed on the sex offenders register for life, was also made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, which severely restricts his access to children and computers.

Judge Christine Laing QC said: “This girl was deliberately groomed by you and she thought you were 15 years old.

“This was no momentary lack of judgement and a particularly aggravating feature was messaging her after the offence that if she told anyone she would go to a young person’s jail.”