A man has been jailed for the “sickening” abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in Tameside.

Lewis Jones, 24, of no fixed abode but from Liverpool, was sentenced to life in prison at Manchester Crown yesterday (Wednesday) after pleading guilty to kidnapping the girl and sexually assaulting her in August 2022.

The court heard how Jones abducted the six-year-old from a field at the side of her sister’s house in Droylsden where she was playing with her cousins.

The children spotted a man, later identified as Jones, sat on a bench, which was situated right in front of where they were making a den with sticks.

He watched them playing for approximately an hour, taking photographs of them whilst also on phone at various times.

He removed his t-shirt at one point, which revealed a tattoo on his chest – an identifying factor noticed by one of the children and later recounted to the police.

Jones then approached the youngsters and offered to help them collect sticks.

He then grabbed the girl under his arm, stuck his fingers in her mouth, and took her away from the area. One of the other children tried to follow but lost them.

Police were contacted and family members searched for her. She was located in the same area 20 minutes later.

After carrying her away from the field, Jones took her to a van and put her in the back where he sexually assaulted her and took indecent photographs, which police later recovered from his phone.

The child had bruises, abrasions and her tooth knocked out as a result of the incident.

Jones was arrested by police the following day.

Following Jones’s imprisonment, Ruth Mann, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offence Unit said: “Jones is a sexual predator and a danger to children. A six-year-old child being kidnapped in broad daylight is every parent’s worst nightmare.

“Jones took the child for his own sexual gratification with no thought for the lasting damage his sickening attack would cause.

“The strength of the evidence was such that in this case Jones had no option but to plead guilty.

“The CPS is committed to bringing sex offenders to justice. I hope this sentence will give the child and their family some sense of justice and that they can now begin to put what happened behind them.”

Detective Superintendent Gareth Jenkins said: “Firstly, we would like to thank the young victim and her family, who have shown considerable strength and bravery when seeing this prosecution through until sentencing today.

“As a team and a force, we are extremely pleased with today’s result, which has seen Jones, an abhorrent individual, removed from the streets for a considerable length of time.

"My officers acted quickly, securing identification of Jones who was a stranger to Tameside. This was only achieved by securing evidence of his approach and exit to the scene and I am very grateful to them and the officer in the case who worked tirelessly and under significant pressure to get this to where we are today.”