A PAEDOPHILE who took out £300 to pay to have sex with an 11-year-old girl has had his prison sentence extended.

Matthew Millen caught a train to Southampton so he could have sex with a young girl called Grace.

The 44-year-old had even planned to make a video recording.

However, Grace was in fact an undercover police officer and Millen was arrested at McDonald’s in Westquay Shopping Centre.

Millen of Hall Park Avenue, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex was convicted of attempting to pay for the sexual services of a child following a trial at Southampton Crown Court.

In December he was jailed for just three years.

But earlier this year, the former Bank of England cyber-security expert had his case referred to the Attorney General under the Unduly Lenient Scheme.

Upon review, the Court of Appeal has now increased his sentence to seven years imprisonment.

After a joint hearing at the Court of Appeal concerning three other paedophiles as well as Millen, the new Attorney General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, said: I was shocked and appalled by the wicked intentions of these men and it was only thanks to the vigilance of the police and others that their criminality did not extend further. I welcome the decisions of the Court of Appeal in what is a landmark case for the court."

A jury had found him unanimously guilty after being presented with "compelling evidence".

He had argued he was a paedophile hunter and had been trying to catch Grace's father.

Millen will be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will have to register as a sex offender for life.