A CONVICTED sex offender who kidnapped a six-year-old girl and tried to force her to engage in a sexual act in a daylight attack is facing jail.

The girl, who can not be named for legal reasons, was playing on Nairne Street in Burnley when she was taken by Accrington man Imran Khan and bundled into the boot of his black Vauxhall Astra car.

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She was driven several miles to Scarth Lane, Hapton where Khan, 34, exposed himself and incited her to touch him during a 20-minute ordeal.

Khan, from Pendle Street, then dumped her in a wheelie bin before she later freed herself and was found wandering alone in distress by other children at around 5pm on March 26 this year.

The registered sex offender was convicted in 2008 of abducting a 12-year-old girl in a car and sexually assaulting her. For that he was jailed for nine years and released in 2013, said police.

Ahead of a trial for this latest incident at Preston Crown Court, Khan pleaded guilty to kidnap, kidnap with intent to commit a sexual offence and breach of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Inspector Jim Elston from Lancashire Police’s Force Major Investigation Team (FMIT) said: “This was a horrendous offence which would have been terrifying for any adult, let alone a young child.

“We continue to offer support to the victim and to her family and we welcome the verdict and look forward to a sentence which reflects the gravity of Khan’s offending.”

Det Insp Elston said police had a ‘rigorous systems in place to manage sex offenders who have served a sentence and been released into the community’ and revealed there was currently a review ongoing into this particular case.

“We will clearly look carefully at the results of that to see if there are any lessons we can learn,” he added.

The crown court heard that Khan tricked the girl into approaching his car by lying that he needed her help to retrieve a ball trapped under the vehicle.

He picked her up and placed her in the open boot of the black Vauxhall Astra and he drove three and a half miles to Hapton.

Khan parked in an isolated lane and attempted to force her to commit a sexual act before he drove a short distance to Whitefield Street where he put the girl in a wheelie bin and drove off.

Her parents contacted police after members of the public took her back home when she was discovered in a distraught state in the street asking for help.

Khan’s vehicle was identified from CCTV footage and he was arrested at his home two days later.

Adjourning sentencing until October 23, Judge Simon Newell told the defendant a custodial sentence was ‘inevitable’ as he remanded him.

He said a pre-sentence report would assist him in fixing the length of the sentence and assessing the dangerousness of Khan.