A 'DANGEROUS predator' has been jailed for 10 years for committing numerous child sex offences.

Martin John Lahiff, aged 26, was sentenced today at Preston Crown Court.

On October 28 2016 Lahiff was charged with attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child and attempting to cause/incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

Following this police seized two mobile phones belonging to Lahiff.

Officers from the Digital Media Investigation Unit found over 300 indecent images of children which fell into categories A to C - with A being the most serious.

Officers also found hundreds of chat threads with children which constituted illegal activity.

Lahiff, of Storey Square, Barrow, was sentenced today for:

• Five counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity

• Five counts of causing a child to watch/look at an image of sexual activity

• Three counts of making indecent photograph of a child

• Possession of extreme pornographic image

The offences occurred between July and October 2016.

Lahiff has also been placed on the sexual offender register for life and received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for life.

Detective Inspector Jenny Beattie, Digital Media Investigation Unit, said: “Lahiff is a dangerous predator who spent a lot of time committing these sickening child sex offences and has rightly been brought to justice. 

“Lahiff chatted to and built the trust of children, as young as 12 years old, in order to get them to perform sexual acts online and shared them with others for his own and their sexual gratification.

“We are working hard every day to proactively target and prosecute those who abuse children. By doing this we are helping protect children in Cumbria.

“We encourage anyone who has any suspicions of any sort of abuse to contact us so we can investigate.”