A paedophile lorry driver who was told by a judge he could go on a Greek island holiday while on bail has been jailed for over 15 years.

Matthew Thompson, 48, admitted sexually abusing two girls.

But despite his “serious offending”, a judge allowed him to jet off on a two-week holiday to the sunshine island of Kos before receiving his lengthy jail term on Friday.

The trip abroad was not mentioned during Thompson’s sentence hearing at Bradford Crown Court, and it is understood he never went on the vacation.

Prosecutor David McGonigal said Thompson had used a sex toy on one girl and had sex with the second after he’d given her alcohol and drugs.

The court heard moving victim impact statements, read out by Mr McGonigal, in which the complainants described the devastating effects of the abuse on them.

Thompson, who has previous convictions for sexual offences, was described in a pre-sentence report as “a predatory male with a sexual interest in children”.

Thompson, who now has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, was jailed for a total of 15 years and 10 months.

But the judge added an extra year of prison licence onto his sentence because he was classed as “an offender of particular concern”.

Barrister Gillian Batts, for Thompson, said it was very rare for a defendant facing such allegations to enter guilty pleas.

She said: “It is an acknowledgement from the defendant, by virtue of his guilty pleas, that these things happened and the victims are telling the truth about what happened to them.

“The victims did not have to give evidence and did not have to go through the process of being cross-examined and inevitably being called liars.”