Grassington paedophile Benjamin Knight jailed after online sting

Benjamin Knight said he one day hoped to have his own family to "train"

A paedophile who asked an undercover police officer if her children were "available" for sexual abuse has been jailed.

Benjamin Knight, of Wisp Hill Croft in Grassington, North Yorkshire, quizzed the officer who pretended to have three children during an online sting.

Bradford Crown Court heard the forklift driver hoped to have his own family to "train" and suggested meeting up.

He was jailed for six-and-a-half years after admitting a series of offences.

Knight, who was jailed for 18 months in 2018 for making indecent images of children, was arrested at his home in August after police found two phones hidden under his bed.

The devices were later found to contain more than 3,000 indecent images and more than 300 extreme pornographic images.

The 41-year-old pleaded guilty to possession and distribution charges in relation to the images and will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life.

• More stories from Yorkshire

Barrister Rahdia Karaa, for Knight, said he had never intended to meet up with the fictitious family.

Judge Neil Davey QC said Knight's sexual interest in children had escalated since his jail sentence and he had spoken in detail about what he wanted to do to the children.

He said the phones hidden under Knight's bed were kept secret from the police in flagrant breach of a previously imposed Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Knight also pleaded guilty to three charges of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence.