A YOUNG man from Darwen who released private snaps of a teenager online has been jailed for eight months.

Daniel Barrett, 22, placed three photos of his victim on Facebook before she realised what he had done, Burnley Crown Court was told.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been ‘tagged’ into the offending images and immediately reported them to the authorities at her college.

Barrett, of Westcote Street, Darwen, admitted to disclosing private sexual photos at a previous hearing.

Prosecutor Stephen Parker said the defendant took down the pictures within hours of them being posted. Two on the images were said to show her naked and in the third she was only wearing underwear.

Police later visited his home and seized Barrett’s mobile phone. He was arrested when the device, and messages sent from it, were analysed by officers.

Philip Holden, defending, said: “The photos were mercifully removed fairly quickly by the defendant. It was not a case of police coming around and having to remove them.”

The defendant, who came from a stable family background and had enrolled on a plumbing course at Blackburn College, had expressed remorse and shame for his actions, he added.

Mr Holden said Barrett had sought help from his GP and enquiries were ongoing to see whether a diagnosis of autism or ADHD was appropriate in his case.

Jailing him, Judge Beverley Lunt said:”The fact that you took these pictures offline a few hours later was too little, too late.

“There is always the risk, with the internet, that these pictures might resurface again, without any warning, which is clearly what she fears.

“You and people like you must understand that if you use indecent photos as a weapon....then an immediate prison sentence will result. That message has to go out.”

The judge said she accepted that the defendant, who had no previous convictions, had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and now realised the extent of the upset he had caused by his behaviour.

Judge Lunt also imposed a five-year restraining order, prohibiting any future contact between Barrett and his victim.