A Merseyside man has been jailed for five year after he was caught having sex with a 14 year-old American schoolgirl he met on the Internet.

Barry Beadle, 51, a former psychiatric nurse, was arrested last April after his plans to make away after an illicit liaison with the youngster unravelled when a hotel manager refused to accept the British bank cheque he offered in payment for room charges. Police were called and Beadle was arrested.

The pair had been staying at the Best Value Inn in Fort Madison, Iowa for six days. The girl, who reportedly met Beadle in an Internet chat room, told her parents that she was staying with friends. By the time of Beadle's arrest, the girl's concerned parents had filed a missing person's report.

Beadle pleaded guilty to travelling to the US to have sex with a minor and sex with a minor last September, offences that saw him jailed for a further four years at a sentencing hearing yesterday. ®

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