A rapist who abducted a 15-year-old girl while he was on licence after his release from prison has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Adam Tomkinson, 29, harboured the infatuated teenager after she absconded from a social services care home, a Court heard.

Tomkinson, branded “a consummate liar” by a judge, misled the police about the girl’s whereabouts, saying she was in Wales.

She spent a night at his home in Rosemary Close, Rastrick, Brighouse, before the pair were caught on a canal towpath in the town.

Tomkinson had been jailed for eight years at Bradford Crown Court in 2003 for rape. He was recalled to prison after he was arrested on January 8 over a child abduction.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was infatuated with Tomkinson, calling him ‘Tommo’ and phoning and writing to him, prosecutor Nikki Peers told Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

She was placed in voluntary care away from West Yorkshire because it was feared she was in danger of sexual exploitation from other men.

Miss Peers said that Tomkinson, who has convictions for assault and harassment, was warned in December not to have any contact with the girl.

On January 3, she took a train back to the region and turned up on Tomkinson’s doorstep after spending time with another man.

Police forced entry into Tomkinson’s home three days later and found a holdall containing the girl’s letters and female clothing.

In mitigation, Tomkinson’s barrister, Ahmed Nadim, said his client told police on previous occasions when the girl turned up.

“He let down his guard and offered her a night’s accommodation,” Mr Nadim told the court.

Judge Jonathan Rose said the girl left the care home “under her own steam” and there was no evidence that Tomkinson had a sexual relationship with her that night.

But he lied to the police and took no steps to alert the authorities.

Judge Rose ordered that the jail sentence start now. He made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for ten years, barring Tomkinson from any contact with the girl.