A British man was jailed for five years yesterday for travelling to the US to have sex with a 14-year-old girl he met in an internet chatroom.

Barry Beadle, 51, a mobile disco DJ, was also ordered to undergo mental health treatment by a judge in Des Moines, Iowa.

Beadle, a former psychiatric nurse from Merseyside, had pleaded guilty in September to two sex crimes after spending several nights at a hotel in Iowa with the girl.

She told her mother she was staying with friends, but was picked up from home by Beadle and they then checked into a hotel. The court heard they spent the next six days drinking alcohol and having sex. A FBI agent said in prosecution evidence that Beadle always knew the girl was under 15.

Beadle was caught because the hotel manager had suspicions about a cheque he tried to use.

He pleaded guilty to travelling to the US to have sex with a minor and inducing a minor to have sex.

Iowa federal clerk's office said he was expected to serve at least four years and three months before being eligible for parole.

After his release he is expected to be deported to Britain and will not be allowed back into the US without special permission.