A paedophile who sent sexualised messages to a 12-year-old from his prison cell has been sentenced to a further eight years and nine months in jail.
Kevin Hardwick was a serving prisoner at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire when he used a contraband mobile phone to message the child.
The 47-year-old was also in communication with at least one decoy whom he believed to be a child, police said.
He sent an image of a teenager, telling the girl he was 14 years old.
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Police said Hardwick was aware the girl was only 12.
A search of his prison cell led to the discovery of a hidden mobile phone.
"Following our enquiries, it was found that Hardwick had researched his own name, plus ‘social media for 11-year-olds’ and ‘social media and child grooming’," Lancashire Police said.
Police consulted with the Crown Prosecution Service and Hardwick was charged with offences including possession of a specified item in a prison, attempted sexual communications with a child, sexual communications with a child, and inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, including penetration.
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Hardwick, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the charges.
He was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison at Preston Crown Court on September 17.
Hardwick is also subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
In a statement, the victim’s mother said: "To find out a fully grown man was posing as a young teenage boy is quite frankly vile.
Hardwick was sentenced at Preston Crown Court
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"And to find out this man was in a prison cell at the time made me sick to my stomach.
"How on earth was this male even able to have a phone in his cell?"
She continued: "We try not to hold her back through what has happened, but that feeling of dread of who or what she encounters in the wider world has been massively heightened and will stay with us forever because of this individual."
Detective Constable Charlie Brown, of Lancashire Police, said: "Hardwick is a paedophile who lured a young girl into speaking to him by posing as someone who is a similar age.
"His actions are sickening – it was clear that he knew what he was doing and had researched what platforms were best to groom children online."
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