A MAN who groomed two vulnerable young girls over the internet and then met them for sex has been jailed for three-years.

A SUFFOLK man who groomed two vulnerable young girls over the internet and then met them for sex has been jailed for three-years.

Patrick Burnell, 21, who was extradited from the Czech Republic to face charges had sex in his car with a 13-year-old girl from Kesgrave after first contacting the girl through a social networking site, Norwich Crown Court heard.

While under investigation for this, Burnell had already made contact with a 12-year-old girl from Suffolk who he again met through the internet. He arranged to meet her and then sexually assaulted her after giving her a lift in his car, leaving his victim in shock and crying.

A further complaint was made but Burnell fled to Prague instead of facing charges. His arrest came following a joint investigation involving Norfolk and Suffolk police.

Burnell, formerly of Bourchier Close, Hadleigh, was jailed after admitting to two offences of sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl, sexually assaulting another girl of 12 and a charge of grooming her.

Burnell was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life and made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for ten years under which he can not have unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 or work with children.

Jonathan Morgans, mitigating, said Burnell was 19 when he committed the offences and had now matured and changed his attitude.