A man has been jailed after ordering a €570 child sex doll from China.

Brian Leach chose the 100cm tall toy's eye and hair colour before paying for it to be delivered to his home in Maidstone.

The package was intercepted by customs officers at Stansted Airport in December 2016, Kent Police said.

Leach admitted improper importation of indecent or obscene articles as well as making indecent images of a child, and was jailed for 28 weeks at Maidstone Crown Court.

The 62-year-old was arrested in March last year. When police raided his home they discovered a series of explicit images of children on his computer.

Leach claimed the doll was going to be his companion and not a sex toy, but Detective Constable Kinga Hammersley said the size and features of the doll matched those of a young child, adding: "Included in the package were accessories which clearly indicated it to be an object for sexual gratification."

The NSPCC has called on the Government to close a "legal loophole" to make it a crime to create, distribute and possess child sex dolls - and said retailers should withhold them from sale.

A spokeswoman for the charity added: "The importation of these grotesque dolls is an emerging problem.

"There is a real risk that those who use them could become desensitised and go on to abuse children."

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