A PAEDOPHILE cabbie has been jailed for nine years after abusing a 15-year-old girl from Bromley and a 14-year-old girl from Sutton.

Benjamin Spratt, aged 28, was arrested in November 2011 at his home in Laurel Grove in Chelmsford, Essex.

During September and October of 2011, the licensed taxi driver used social networking website MYLOL to approach young girls. The website is designed for teenagers to interact with each other.

While online he used his experience as a DJ to build up a rapport with teenage girls he met on the website to further his relationship with possible victims.

After meeting his 14-year-old victim online, he travelled to her home in Sutton to sexually abuse her.
He turned up at her school two days later and she told her teachers that he was outside. The school called police but he had left before they arrived.

When Spratt was later arrested and questioned officers discovered from examining his computer that he had been in contact with numerous young girls.

Officers tracked down a 15-year-old girl from Bromley who told them Spratt convinced her to engage in sexual activity online.

Spratt pleaded guilty on March 26 at Croydon Crown court to four counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of sexual activity with a child and two other sexual offences.
He was sentenced on April 25 at the same court.

As well as being jailed, Spratt was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

He was also banned from using the internet to talk with children, communicating with any female under 16 without supervision and ordered to allow police to examine any device with either internet or digital image storage.

Detective Constable John Daly, of the Met Police’s Sapphire command, said: "Benjamin Spratt is a predatory paedophile who has targeted a vulnerable young girl to satisfy his own sexual needs.

"The Met is dedicated to protecting the public from sexual predators and encouraging victims to come forward. They will be fully supported by specially trained officers."