A paedophile who used Facebook to trick boys into sending him indecent images of themselves has had his "unduly lenient" jail term increased.

Christopher John Hodder, 31, created multiple fake profiles on the social networking site pretending to be young girls. He lured, coaxed and threatened youngsters into sending him explicit pictures or videos.

Hodder would send his victims naked pictures of a girl to lure them into exposing themselves. He was caught when his computer IP address was traced by the police after he contacted a 15-year-old boy living at a children's home.

In January Hodder, of North Road, Kirkby Stephen, was jailed for four years, with a three-year extended licence period.

He pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to five counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, eight counts of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of making indecent photograph of a child and two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

That sentence was viewed as too soft by the Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC, who referred the case for Appeal Court judges to look at again.

Lord Justice Simon, sitting in London, agreed with him, and upped Hodder's jail term to five years four months. The three-year extended licence period remains in place.

The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Green and Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, said Hodder "accepted that he used fake Facebook profiles to obtain indecent images of children for about two years".

"He spent several hours a day on Facebook searching for new victims... it was too easy and, once he started, he could not stop," the judge added.

Lord Justice Simon said Hodder had previously been "convicted of a similar offence" against a 14-year-old boy.

He had engaged in "predatory sexual offending and online grooming".

The judge concluded: "There was the use of threats and blackmail and the deliberate targeting of victims who were vulnerable because of their age and circumstances.

"This was the second time he was before the court for similar offences.

"This sentence was unduly lenient. The custodial term should have been five years four months, plus three years extended licence."