Jail for woman, 21, who groomed schoolgirl

A woman was jailed for 20 months yesterday for what is believed to be the first case of an adult female grooming a schoolgirl for sex.

Sarah Wilson, 21, from Camberwell, south London, targeted the 15-year-old in an internet chat room and quickly began playing on the youngster's "vulnerability", sending sexually graphic texts and phone calls over six months.

Eventually, the schoolgirl, described at Southwark Crown Court as becoming "more and more emotionally dependent on the flattery", agreed to travel from Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, to King's Cross station in London to meet Wilson and her lover, Peter Richardson, 39, who was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The girl's mother realised she was truant from school and contacted police, who found her and arrested the couple.

Wilson first denied making any sexual references but later admitted one count of "travelling to meet a child following sexual grooming".

She must register as a sex offender for 10 years and was banned from working with children for life.