A CANNABIS user abused two teenaged runaways after luring them to his flat with drink and drugs.

Nigel Smith had sex with one 15-year-old and repeatedly groped a second girl when she was aged 11 to 14.

Both girls were in care of Devon County Council at a home near Axminster but ran away to visit Smith at his flat in Newton Abbot.

One was found by police hiding behind a mattress at his flat, where he had given her cannabis and alcohol before having sex with her.

They were both traumatised by his abuse and one is now so disturbed she has been moved to a secure unit where she is locked up for her own safety.

She wrote a victim impact statement in which she told a Judge at Exeter Crown Court that it was unfair she was the one who had been exploited and abused.

Smith, aged 40, of Alexandra House, Queensway, Newton Abbot, admitted seven counts of sexual activity with a child and supplying cannabis. His sentence was adjourned until later in the week by Judge Graham Cottle.

Mr Peter Coombe, prosecuting, said both girls were from troubled backgrounds and one introduced Smith to the other when they were both in care at the same home near Axminster.

He had sex with the 15-year-old and touched the other girl repeatedly when she was aged 11 to 14. He continued seeing both girls despite being served with child abduction notices by the county council.

Police found one girl hiding behind a mattress in his flat and she said he had given her cannabis and alcohol and shared a candlelit dinner.

One said they had also taken Viagra before having sex. The other said she used to stay the night and was also given drink and drugs. He had started touching her when she was only 11.

Mr Coombe said: ’The aggravating features are the use of alcohol and drugs to facilitate intercourse. The younger girl was particularly vulnerable.

’She was extremely young and only 11 when these offences started. She had a long history of being in care. There was clearly grooming and she says he supplied cannabis and alcohol.’

The younger girl wrote a victim impact statement which was read to the Judge at her request. She said: ’My emotional and mental health have suffered. I thought he loved me but I now know this was rubbish.

’I am not a slag. I am a child but he has made me feel rubbish and worthless. It is not easy to be positive about myself. I could not keep myself safe so I have been locked up in secure accommodation.

’I am locked up with some children who are criminals. I am finding it really difficult to understand what he did to me and I am still in trauma therapy.

’I am being treated for anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder. How is it right I should be locked up when it is he who has done this to me.

’I am the victim. I am a child but I cannot go home. It is as if he is still hurting me because I cannot be a normal child. He has taken my childhood away.’

Mr Rupert Taylor, mitigating, said Smith had pleaded guilty and spared the girls from having to relive their experiences in the witness box.

He said: ’He puts forward no excuse. At the time he was immersing himself in drink and cannabis after his stepson had died in a fishing accident.

’He allowed himself to be flattered by the attentions of these young girls. He thought it would be all right but of course, it is never all right and he now accepts that.

’They were both anxious to stay at his home. He accepts he went too far but he did not have any malicious thoughts towards them.’