A PERVERT who sent a sex picture to girls as young as nine on Instagram and WhatsApp was warned he faces a prison sentence.

Hejrat Lewani, from Newport, forwarded an obscene image to six children, aged between nine and 14, living in the city using the social media networks.

The 27-year-old also committed a sex offence against a girl and sent the same indecent photograph to a woman.

Lewani pleaded guilty to six counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child, one charge of sexual activity with a child and one offence of sending an article of an indecent nature.

He was due to stand trial for the offences at Cardiff Crown Court where prosecutor Stephen Rees was set to open the case.

But before a jury could be sworn in, Lewani, using a Pashto interpreter and represented by his barrister Nigel Fryer, changed his pleas to guilty.

The charges relating to the obscene images happened in January 2017 while the sexual activity with a child offence took place between October and December 2015.

The judge, Recorder Ignatius Hughes, QC, adjourned sentencing and ordered the preparation of a report by the Probation Service but warned Lewani it was highly likely he was going to prison.

He told him: “Thank you for admitting your guilt. The court now needs to decide what to do with you.

“The overwhelming likelihood is that you will receive a custodial sentence.

“However, it seems to me that there is a benefit from knowing more about you and to try and understand why this happened.” The judge said to Lewani that the court needed to know from a report “if you are a continuing danger when you are released from prison”.

The defendant replied to the judge: “I will never do such a thing again.”

Lewani, now of Mayfield Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon, London, was remanded in custody and his sentencing is due to take place on May 3.

The judge asked the prosecution to prepare victim impact statements for that hearing.