A head chef in Cornwall has been jailed after he groomed a 13-year-old girl on social media and arranged to meet her for sex.

Rajon Ahmed sent naked pictures of himself to the girl on Instagram and Snapchat and pestered her until she reciprocated and sent intimate images back to him.

He ran the kitchen at an Indian restaurant in St Ives, and arranged to meet the girl nearby with the intention of having sex with her. He kissed her and touched her breasts but they went no further.

She had already made it clear that she was only 13 and later told police it was the first time she had ever been kissed.

Ahmed also sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl, who he asked her for a hug but used the opportunity to pin her arms behind her back while he touched her breasts.

The incidents had profound effects on both girls, leaving the younger girl traumatised and the older so scared to go out that her academic work has suffered.

Ahmed, aged 40, formerly of St Ives but now living in Portsmouth, had tried to deny the charges but was convicted of sexual communication with a child, sexual activity with a child and two sexual assaults by a jury at Truro Crown Court last month.

He has now been jailed for a year and four months by Judge David Evans, put on the sex offenders’ register and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which restricts his contact with children and enables the police to monitor his use of social media.

The judge told him: “It is clear from the messaging and her personal statement that you bent the 13-year-old girl’s life out of shape.

“It is an example of how sexual offending, particularly against those who are far too young to deal with it, can spool out and affect every aspect of the victim’s life from schooling and beyond.

“In my view, the combination of offences against two girls and in particular asking a 13-year-old for sex, pestering her to sending embarrassing photos, and the harm and confusion caused to her, means that only immediate custody is appropriate.”

During the trial, the jury heard how Ahmed used Instagram and Snapchat to contact the younger girl and offered her cigarettes and cannabis before asking if she wanted to see his penis.

She tried to fob him off but he ignored her wishes and sent the image and another of him naked in the shower with a message saying he wished she was with him.

Ahmed groomed the 16-year-old with messages on Instagram in which he said she was sexy and gorgeous.

Miss Katie Churcher, defending, said Ahmed continues to deny the offences but is willing to work with probation to change his attitudes and behaviour.

He lost his job as a result of this case and has split up with his partner. He fears he will be deported back to Bangladesh if his is sent to prison, resulting in permanent separation from his two daughters.