A detective has warned of the dangers of arranging to meet up with people they have previously only had contact with on social media after a man was jailed for the attempted rape and sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl and a girl aged 17.

Adil Hoque targetted the “vulnerable” teenage girls using Twitter and Blackberry Messenger.

The 20-year-old of Sheringham Avenue, Manor Park, was sentenced to eight years in a young offenders institute at Inner London Crown Court on Friday, and given a further 18-month sentence to run concurrently.

He had been found guilty of attempted rape at a trial in October 2012 and further convicted on the sexual assault charge at a re-trial in March this year.

Hoque used Twitter to talk to a 17-year-old girl whom he then offered to drive to college on May 11, 2011.

He sexually assaulted her in his car before she escaped when Hoque was disturbed by a passer-by.

Later in the year Hoque struck again this time talking with a 14-year-old girl via Blackberry Messenger.

He met her on Romford Road in Manor Park, after phoning the school pretending to be her uncle.

Hoque then took her home and tried to rape her.

Detective Inspector Simon Ellershaw, of Sapphire, the police unit tackling rape and sexual assault, said: “He deliberately targeted vulnerable girls. It also highlights the dangers of meeting people you don’t know having had contact with them only via social media.”