A SEX offender who had served a jail term for grooming an under-age girl was locked up again because he drove two teenage girls to a KFC restaurant, a court heard.

Glenn Richards, 34, of Pitman Place, Wotton-under-Edge, took the girls, aged 14 and 15, and an older woman, to the fast food outlet in Bristol and also to a pub in Gloucester.

At Gloucester Crown Court Richards admitted breaching a sexual offences prevention order by being in company with the girls on September 6 last year.

He was sentenced to 40 weeks jail suspended for 18 months and placed under supervision, also for 18 months.

Judge William Hart said: "On April 8, 2010 at Bristol Crown Court you received a three year prison sentence for a number of sexual offences against under-age girls.

"On February 3, 2011 you were released on licence. A week later you were recalled to prison for failing to comply with your licence conditions. You then remained in prison till August 4, 2012, serving a further 18 months.

"Having been released on August 4 you committed the present offence on September 6 - within five weeks of your release."

The judge added: "You were alone in the vehicle with the two girls at one point. That was not something you had set out to create and there is nothing to suggest you either did or said anything improper or inappropriate to either girl.

"That shows that you were capable of being in their company without doing anything worthy of criticism or complaint.

"You have now been back in custody for three months. I am satisfied you knew you were in breach of the order when you were in the company of those girls but that was not a situation you sought to bring about."

Sabhia Pathan, for Richards, said he believed that the older woman had 'care and control' of the two younger girls and that therefore he was entitled to be with them.

"The older sister wanted to use him as a taxi service to take her to KFC and he agreed. He thought the girls she was in company with were 16 or thereabouts."