An internet predator has been jailed after he groomed a 15-year-old girl through an online messaging service and arranged to meet her for sex.

Antony Turner persuaded the girl to send him a picture of her breasts and was on his way to meet her when a support worker at the hostel where he was living found out about the plan and called the police.

The girl went to the rendezvous at Chester Railway Station, where Turner had arranged to meet her before going to a nearby park, Exeter Crown Court was told.

She was so traumatised by Turner’s grooming she started self-harming and told police she was a ‘quivering wreck’ when strange cars pulled up outside her home.

Her mother said she felt her daughter had ‘been violated by a predator’.

Turner also asked a 13-year-old girl to start a sexual relationship and send him images of herself, but she refused and eventually told her parents.

He was found with more than 90 child abuse images on his phone and eight extreme images.

Turner, 20, of Exeter Road, Topsham, admitted meeting a child following sexual grooming, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, seven offences of possessing or making indecent photographs and breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

He was jailed for a total of 33 months by Judge Douglas Field, who warned him he would face a very long sentence if he committed any similar offences in the future.

He told him: “Your behaviour towards young girls is worrying and you have been in denial about the way you have been behaving. You have a distorted attitude and think what you are doing is entirely normal. You have sought to minimise your behaviour and blame others for what you have done. It is time for you to take responsibility for your actions.”

Mr Peter Coombe, prosecuting, said Turner made contact with the 15-year-old girl on social media and carried on the conversation on the Kik messenger service. He told her he was 18 and worked in catering.

As the contact continued, he asked her to send images of her breasts, sent naked pictures of himself and asked her to have sex with him.

They arranged to meet at Chester, but a worker at the hostel where he was living became aware of his plans and alerted the police.

In victim impact statements, the girl said Turner had encouraged her to lie to her mother and left her as ‘a quivering wreck’. The mother said: “I feel as if my daughter has been violated by a predator.”

Checks on Turner’s phone and computers showed he had child abuse images, including some of the worst type and some extreme images.

Police later discovered he had met a 13-year-old girl at Exmouth and also asked her to send him images and asked her if she wanted to start a relationship with him.

He also broke a court order, which prevented him having unsupervised contact with a vulnerable adult, who he had previously had sex with when they were both under age.

Mr Lee Bremridge, defending, said Turner has problems, including autism and dyslexia, and was far more immature than most men of his age and had problems with relationships as a result. He said he was training to become a painter or cleaner while in jail.