A sex offender who targeted young boys at Accrington Stanley matches has been jailed.

Phillip Reece, who is banned from unsupervised contact with children, visited the Crown Ground and associated with boys under 18.

He offered the youngsters gifts including football memorabilia and alcohol, and on one occasion, invited them back to his house. He was caught out when police viewed CCTV footage of him talking to the boys during a home game.

At Burnley Crown Court, Judge Beverley Lunt said Reece had failed to accept his perverted attitudes towards children and jailed him for 19 months.

Prosecutor David Macro said Reece, 46, was handed a ten-year sexual offences prevention order at an earlier hearing.

He said police had viewed CCTV footage showing Reece standing on the terraces talking to the boys and playfully grabbing one of their heads.

In statements to police one of the youngsters said Reece had approached them and started conversations on four or five occasions. He said Reece had offered to buy him badges, asked if he wanted to go to away games and invited them to a party.

The other victim said Reece offered to buy him alcohol. On one occasion he said Reece had approached him and touched him on his back to surprise him.

He said the defendant initially seemed friendly but later became aggressive.

Mr Macro said Reece told police the boys approached him and he thought they were 18.

Reece, of Chapel Street, Brierfield, pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching his sexual offences prevention order.

He denied having a sexual interest in children. Martin Hackett, defending, asked Judge Lunt to suspend the sentence as Reece’s original offending behaviour had not been repeated.

But Judge Lunt said the offences were too serious, his work with the probation service had failed and jailed him for 19 months.

She said: “You breached this order not just once but seven times with regards to two children. The only way to protect kids under 18 from you is to send you to prison.”