An internet sex fiend travelled to Ashford believing he was to meet a mum and her two stepchildren for sex.

Gary Clark, 46, texted “Sam” telling her how excited he was, and “looked relieved” when he saw her at the rail station.

But his smile vanished when he went to hug her and discovered she was a police officer and he had been caught in a sting.

Now Clark, from Salisbury, who revealed he viewed young children as just “objects of pleasure and nothing else,” has started an extended sentence of 10 years and nine months.

Clark refused to leave his prison cell to face the judge, saying if he was brought up he would start shouting.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how the paedophile’s “sick fantasies” alerted police monitoring internet traffic.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC said “Sam” - a law enforcement officer - was monitoring a website and was alerted by messages sent from a “PTLover1971”.

One was a disgusting comment about a picture of a five year old asleep.

Ms Marshall said: “She contacted the user who revealed he was Gary Clark, who sent a naked picture of himself along with details of a file share containing 160 sick images of child sex.”#

Clark, believing “Sam” to be a mother of two, arranged to travel to Ashford to abuse the youngsters.

Ms Marshall said that Clark sent details of his rail ticket and messaged “Sam” assuring her he wasn’t a police officer and revealing he was excited by the prospect of meeting.

After his arrest, Clark claimed “it was all fantasy” and he wouldn’t have carried out any assaults.

John Barker, defending, said Clark, who admitted two charges of arranging to meet a child for sex and one of distributing illegal images, was now “disgusted and full of self-loathing”.

Judge Rupert Lowe jailed Clark, in his absence, for six years and nine months and then added another four years to be served on licence when released.