91�ȱ�

A man who travelled almost 300 miles (480km) to surprise a 15-year-old girl he wanted to "have a baby" with, has been jailed for two years and two months.

Jason Bettinson, 30, travelled from Rochester in Kent to Sunderland several days before last Christmas to meet the girl he had been speaking to online, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

He gave her a love bite at a sandwich shop having made the journey north with a dog, two rabbits and a female friend of his, the court was told.

Bettinson claimed he thought the girl was 17 but admitted sexual activity with a child.

Prosecutor Lee Fish said Bettinson told the girl he was a 16-year-old called Ben when they began exchanging messages online.

In December, he asked her if he could spend Christmas with her but she refused and said her mother would not allow it, the court heard.

On 22 December, he messaged to say he was in Sunderland and asked her to meet him, Mr Fish said.

The girl was "very surprised" but agreed to meet at a Metro station where she found him with his pets and a woman, the court heard.

The girl agreed to let him leave his stuff at her home, which alerted her parents to what was happening, but she then went out with him into the city centre.

'Dangerous offender'

Bettinson, of Rochester High Street, asked the girl if she would "have a baby" with him and took her to a Subway restaurant where he cuddled her and gave her a love bite on her neck, Mr Fish said.

The girls parents had called police and Bettinson was arrested when he took the girl home, telling police he believed she was 17.

Judge Penny Moreland said he would be sentenced on the basis he thought she was 17 until he found out she was 15 when he first went to her home.

In mitigation, Jamie Adams said Bettinson had "complex needs" with multiple learning disabilities and had grown up in care where he was a victim of physical abuse.

The court heard he had previous convictions for rail fare evasion and keeping a child from a responsible adult, which related to him harbouring a girl who had run away from care who officials found hiding in his wardrobe in 2019.

Judge Moreland said Bettinson was a "dangerous offender" who posed a "significant risk" to young girls.

A restraining order and sexual harm prevention order were also made and Bettinson must sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Follow 91�ȱ� Sunderland on , , and . Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.