A SENIOR judge has raised concerns about a rise in "virtual" sexual abuse after a 23-year-old student was jailed for grooming a teenage girl over the internet while working as a coach at a children's sports camp.

Three appeal judges at the Court of Appeal in London said a crown court judge had wrongly given 23-year-old Tony Marsden, of Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, a suspended jail term.

They substituted a sentence of three years and four months following an appeal hearing, saying the original term of 16 months suspended for two years was "unduly lenient".

Lord Justice Fulford, the most senior judge on the appeal panel, warned of the increasing frequency of offences involving "virtual abuse" over the internet and added: "We are worried about the appalling consequences of this kind of behaviour."

Prosecutors asked the appeal court to re-examine the case after government legal advisers said they thought the original sentence lenient.

Appeal judges were told Marsden had admitted causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was sentenced by Judge Simon Hickey at Newcastle upon Tyne Crown Court in June.