One of Britain’s most notorious paedophiles has been jailed for ruining the life of a boy who he abused when he was just five.

Keith Morris left the victim with severe psychological damage, leading to self-harm and suicide attempts, and a life of petty crime.

The victim made an impact statement in which he said he wished Morris was dead so he could not harm any other children.

Morris had already served two jail sentences for molesting boys when he sexually assaulted the victim in the 1990s.

He went on to abuse a 15-year-old boy with learning difficulties, leading to him receiving an indefinite sentence in 2007.

Morris was subject of questions in Parliament when he was released on bail rather than remanded in custody pending that sentence because of prison overcrowding.

He has now been sent back to jail and will remain there until he is deemed safe to release by the parole board.

After his arrest in 2007 he gave police a chilling insight into his techniques for grooming boys in which he said he stated physical contact through play fights before moving on to sexual touching.

Morris, aged 57, who formerly lived at Ilsington, near Newton Abbot, and now resides at Bodley Close, Exeter, admitted 10 counts of indecent assault or indecency.

He was jailed for five years and six months by Judge Geoffrey Mercer, QC, at Exeter Crown Court. He was ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for life.

The judge told him: ‘You have a highly relevant criminal record. These offences were committed after you were released from your second sentence of imprisonment.

‘These are extremely serious sexual offences committed against a very young boy. I have to take account of the effect of the victim. Anyone who heard his victim statement cannot help but be moved.

‘It has had an enormous effect on him. As he puts it, you have ruined his life and had a continuing effect on him.’

Miss Rachel Drake, prosecuting, said Morris was a regular visitor to the boy’s home and went into his bedroom after going upstairs on the pretext of using the bathroom.

He got into bed with the boy and touched his private parts. He also bribed him with pound coins to expose himself. He told the boy he would be taken into care if he told anyone of the abuse.

The boy, now an adult, said the abuse had ’ruined his life’. It said: ‘He does not understand the impact he has had on me and those around me. I wish he was dead so he could not harm anyone else.’

Mr Lee Bremridge, defending, said Morris is not the same man as he was when he committed the offences. He had undergone every available course while serving seven years of his previous indefinite sentence and has worked with probation since his release.

He has complied with stringent licence conditions and worked as a volunteer in a charity shop.

After his arrest in 2007 Morris gave police a graphic account of his paedophile urges and his grooming techniques.

‘The court was told: ‘He said he was more attracted to young boys before they reached puberty because they were easier to persuade.

‘He said he would begin by wrestling with them over their clothes to get them used to him and take it further step by step.

‘He said he told boys not to tell their parents and gave then sweets and he was sexually aroused by the element of control.

‘He was to say that his sexual attraction for boys would never go away and he deals with it in the best way he can.’