A man who lured girls to a playroom in his attic was jailed for seven years for indecent assaults on five youngsters.

Frank Cousins, 35, had fallen in love with one of the girls, who was aged nine, set up a shrine to her in his home, and even after his arrest wrote love letters to her, the court heard.

He admitted 12 offences of indecent assault, one of indecency with a child and one of taking an indecent photograph of a child.

Passing sentence at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge David Hodson labelled him a "sophisticated and skilled manipulator".

The court was told that Cousins, of Forest Hall, Tyneside, also had adult material in the playroom.

Police investigating the attacks, which began in 1997, found a shrine on a dressing table in his home, with a picture of the nine-year-old, flanked by candles.

They also found indecent pictures of his victim, pornographic magazines, and children's clothing.

When interviewed by police the four other girls, aged between ten and 14, all told police they had been groped by Cousins.

Robert Adams, defending Cousins, told the court: ''He found himself in love with a girl of nine, in the adult sense of the word, when all right thinking people would consider that wrong."