A man has been jailed for more than five years after travelling to Hatfield to commit sexual offences against a nine-year-old girl.

Howard White, of Whaddon Lane in Winchester, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years behind bars at St Albans Crown Court today (Tuesday, February 6), after pleaded guilty to attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and arranging the commission of a child sex offence.

He was also hit with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order

The court heard that in November 2022, he began communicating via social media with an undercover police officer, who, under the pseudonym of Gary, told White that he had a nine-year-old step daughter called Freya.

'Gary' told White that he would abuse his step daughter in front of him, before the 64-year-old sent explicit content to show Freya.

After further communications, where White believed he was speaking to Freya, a meeting was arranged in Hatfield before White would sexually abuse the nine-year-old at a nearby flat.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Howard White.Howard White. (Image: Herts police)

On February 10, 2023, White drove 80 miles to Hertfordshire, but was arrested by officers waiting at the property where he was planning to meet Freya.

In mitigation, defence barrister Shanda McAteer said that White "wished to express his genuine and deep remorse".

Ms McAteer told the court that White "lost his good name and character" among the close-knit community he lives in, and that his relationship with his brother, who he shared a house with, had broken down as a result of his offence.

She asked the judge to consider his age, his previous good character, saying that White "cannot really explain how he managed to crawl down what he, himself, calls this rabbit hole".

As she sentenced White, Judge Barbara Mensah told the court: "These offences are treated very seriously by the court.

"They may well be decoy cases, but nevertheless, as far as you knew, it was a real nine-year-old child who was being spoken about.

"You had gone as far as you possibly could go. It seems to me that you had gone far enough and there is nothing in your behaviour that suggests you would have stopped."