Police are warning parents to be aware of who their children are talking to on social media after a man used Facebook to groom a young girl.

The girl was just 14 when she was contacted by Akbar Hamid, aged 20, from Small Heath, who went on to form an inappropriate relationship with her.

Eventually the teen tried to break contact with him, but Hamid began a campaign of intimidation against her, turning up at her workplace and at her home to threaten her parents.

The girl’s ordeal was made worse when she discovered through friends that sexual images she had been encouraged to send to Hamid when she was just 14 had been posted on Instagram.

PC Jonathan Barker, from the West Midlands Police Public Protection Unit, said: “My advice to parents is that you should talk to your children about what they’re up to online and who they’re conversing with.”

Hamid, now 24, was jailed for five years and nine months for sexual activity with a child, at Birmingham Crown Court. He has also been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

You can report child sexual abuse directly to West Midlands Police using this link