TWO little girls were kept waiting for two days to give evidence in Plymouth Crown Court before the paedophile who sexually abused them changed his plea to guilty, a court heard.

The children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were kept on tenterhooks at a special NSPCC suite in the city.

They were due to give evidence via video link about the vile abuse they suffered at the hands of convicted paedophile Philip Dyke, and were bracing themselves for lengthy cross-examination by his counsel.

The jury had been sworn and the trial was ready to start on December 9 last year.

But after Dyke learned that the jurors were to be told how he had been jailed for seven years in 1994 for a string of sex attacks on young girls, he changed his plea at the last minute.

Judge Paul Darlow had made it clear that if Dyke pleaded guilty, even at that stage, he would reduce his jail sentence because the girls would have been spared the ordeal of testifying and re-living their harrowing experiences.

Yesterday that promise was honoured as Judge Darlow imposed a three-year jail term – reduced by 10 per cent – on Dyke, who lives in St Levan Road, Keyham, but committed the offences elsewhere in the city.

The court heard that Dyke knew the families of the three girls, but took opportunities when briefly alone with them to carry out assault.

Dyke was arrested in May 2008 and re-interviewed by police that August.

He initially denied all the offences but eventually pleaded guilty to four specimen charges: one sexual assault on each of the two younger girls, both under 13, and two counts of sexual activity with a child, the oldest girl.

Piers Norsworthy, prosecuting, said the oldest girl had initially told no-one about Dyke's advances, but had written and kept a letter about what happened.

Later, she confided in her brother and finally reported the attacks to the police.

Mr Norsworthy said that in March 1994, Dyke had been jailed for seven years at Cardiff Crown Court for 10 offences: eight assaults on girls under 14, one abduction of a child and one attempted rape of a child.

The girls were all aged four to 12.

Nick Lewin, for Dyke, said most of the allegations involved fleeting contact, which was opportunistic and not planned.

He had not fostered relationships with the children's mothers, and his attacks were "far less sophisticated and planned than other cases".

Dyke had heart disease, chronic back pain, possible arthritis of the spine and had suffered a mini-stroke, he said, but had pleaded guilty despite having no recollection at all of the events.

Arguing for a non-custodial sentence, Mr Lewin said: "Continued deterioration in his health will help prevent future offences.

"He is a very sick man and will have an intolerable time in prison due to his disabilities."

Mr Lewin said it was essential that Dyke received help in addressing his offending behaviour, adding: "He presents a risk of further offending; when presented with an opportunity to abuse children, he will abuse children."

Judge Darlow told Dyke, who appeared in court on a disability scooter and struggled to walk a few paces to the dock: "This conforms to a pattern of exploitation of a position of trust.

"You were quite able to bury any consideration or empathy for the integrity of these girls to satisfy your sexual gratification."

He ordered Dyke to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for life and imposed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning him from working with children or unsupervised contact with under-16s in the future.