PAEDOPHILES who stalk children on the Internet are to be targeted by new laws, a North-East barrister told a packed meeting last night.

Criminal justice expert Alisdair Gillespie delivered a lecture at the University of Teesside, where he is a senior lecturer, on the dangers faced by youngsters surfing the net.

Mr Gillespie, 28, is a member of the Home Office's Internet task force and is helping to devise a new law which would catch potential paedophiles before they strike.

"The laws to do with paedophiles grooming children on the Internet are insufficient, " he said.

"At the moment paedophiles have got to go significantly down the line of abusing a child before they can be caught.

"The new law would criminalise a meeting with intent. So police officers could go online posing as a child and arrange a meeting with a paedophile.

"Officers would be able to arrest the person at the meeting place. Its known as pro-active identification."

Mr Gillespie hopes the proposals will be included in the next Queen's Speech. He also wants to see changes to Internet child pornography laws.

"The main offences for child pornography just deal with images," he said. "Sound files are exempt as are drawings or cartoons. Paedophiles are now tracing photographs featuring child pornography and circulating them on the net knowing that it is not illegal. The laws really need extending and updating."