A MAN groomed a schoolgirl he met in an internet chat-room before travelling to the North-East and booking a hotel for sex sessions.

Christopher Page, 25, twice had intercourse with the 14-year-old on his weekend visit to Hartlepool last April, a court heard today.

Teesside Crown Court was told that the pair exchanged sexually explicit messages on their mobile phones and computers before they met.

Judge John Walford adjourned the case so Page, from Halesowen, West Midlands, could be seen by a psychiatrist before being sentenced.

Page was ruled to be unfit to plead to the charges he faced of sexual grooming, child abduction and sexual activity with a child.

A jury of seven men and five women simply had to rule on whether the offences took place on April 18 and 19 last year..

Page's barrister, Christopher Hotten, QC, told the court that the allegations were not disputed, but described his client as "vulnerable".

The court heard that Page suffered extensive brain damage in a road accident when he was 13 and had been left with an impaired mental capacity.

Mr Hotten told Judge Walford: "What we are all concerned with - and that includes his parents - is minimising the risk he may pose in the future."

The judge will seek the psychiatric report, but indicated that he has in mind either a hospital order or supervision order for Page.

The schoolgirl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also described in court as "vulnerable" because of her learning difficulties.

She was given a lap-top computer for Christmas 2007, but her behaviour when anyone came close to her when she used it aroused suspicion.

An older sister periodically checked the girl's chat-room exchanges, but did not find anything to worry about until May 17, the court heard.

David Brooke, prosecuting, said the sister discovered a folder marked "I love Chris" and a series of messages of a sexual nature.

Among the exchanges were plans to meet at Hartlepool railway station and get a hotel so they could be together on the night.

"You know that as soon as I see you I am going to want to make love to you," Page wrote, after initially agreeing the girl was too young.

In one of her messages, the girl said "I can't wait to have sex" but Page told her to wait longer before losing her virginity because she would regret it.