A SEX offender with a pronounced fetish for boys in white socks has begun a seven-day jail sentence after being caught making contact with a 15-year-old on a gay dating application.

Former East Lancashire shop worker Kristian Kirk, 26, was warned about his future conduct after notching up two convictions for making online contact with underage boys.

But Kirk, formerly of Oswaldtwistle but now living in the Pendle area, was arrested again by Lancashire Police after he was caught communicating with a 15-year-old boy on the gay dating site Grindr.

This placed the former University of Central Lancashire policing student in breach of a sexual harm prevention order, which had been imposed by a Burnley Crown Court judge last year to restrict his contact with underage teens.

Kirk, who admitted being in breach of the order and a separate charge of breaching a suspended sentence order, was given a seven-day prison sentence by Recorder Harry Narayan when he appeared back in the dock at Burnley.

He was also ordered to pay a nominal fine for being in breach of the suspended sentence – and a probation supervision order was allowed to continue.

Kirk, previously convicted of inciting a boy aged under 16 to engage in sexual activity, has also previously been placed on a sex offenders’ treatment programme by the courts.

Originally Kirk came to the attention of the authorities after falling victim to a sting by the self-styled Paedophile Hunter Stinson Hunter, who posed as a 14-year-old boy in an online conversation with him. The internet crusader’s intervention prompted criticism from the judiciary.

The sexually charged chat, which eventually saw Kirk arrested and interviewed by Lancashire Police, involved him requesting pictures of the youngster in white socks, the court heard.

Another inquiry was also set in motion by North Wales Police into Kirk’s activities following a complaint by the grandmother of a 15-year-old boy regarding similar behaviour.

He was said to have taken part in a Snapchat conversation with the youngster, where he asked for nude pictures, and images of the teenager wearing white socks.