A sex offender from Lower Clapton who targeted girls on Snapchat and assaulted one victim in his car is facing jail.

Roland Lamin, 29, of Redwald Road, was found guilty of a string of offences dating back to 2016 at Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday.

The charges relate to two victims, aged 14 and 15, who he groomed after meeting on the social media app. He befriended them and began sending and requesting explicit images, while lying about his age. He then met one of them and sexually assaulted her in his car.

He was caught after a teacher overheard one girl talking about a "sugar daddy" buying her things.

Lamin was arrested in Wiltshire on 23 January 2018.

In April at Thames Magistrates' Court, he was given an interim Sexual Risk Order which banned him from contacting or communicating with any girl under 16, and from using the internet and social media platforms.

But he again began talking to a 14-year-old girl on Snapchat. He arranged to meet her in Bristol in June, but she changed her mind. Police became aware and told the Met who arrested him again in June.

Det Con Steve Gradwell, who led the investigation, said: "Lamin was predatory in seeking out vulnerable young girls he had never met before on Snapchat, and befriending them before bombarding them with sexual messages.

"Lamin has expressed no remorse and denied his crimes, but evidence of his guilt, amassed by the investigating officers, was overwhelming.

"It is important that young people in particular are vigilant about people they engage with online, and this case shows the potential dangers of communicating with people you don't know."

Lamin was convicted of causing a child to look at an image of sexual activity, causing a child to engage in a sexual act, engaging in sexual communication with a child, two counts of sexual assault on one victim and two counts of breaching a sexual risk order.

He admitted to one count of possession of indecent images of a child at the start of the trial.

For more information about how to stay safe online, go to safe.met.police.uk.