A convicted sex offender was caught by chance in a restaurant with a boy of ten.

Marc Wise, 38, had started to form a relationship with the boy and took him out for a meal after twice inviting him to his flat.

But Wise got into a violent argument with staff at the Little Chef and was arrested.

When the boy was dropped back at home he told his mother he had been out with a friend. But he later confessed he had been taken out by Wise and his mother contacted police.

Yesterday, after Wise was jailed for kidnap, detectives said the boy's behaviour suggested he was in the early stages of being controlled.

They found his bag and skateboard at Wise's flat in South Terrace, Littlehampton.

Detective Constable Stuart Tait-Bower said: "We have been lucky to have caught him when we did."

Chichester Crown Court heard how officers had to use chemical pepper spray to arrest Wise on October 23 last year when staff at the Little Chef in Arundel Road, Worthing, complained of his drunken behaviour.

He lunged over a counter to fill an ice cream bowl and threw his meal on the floor before demanding a refund.

Officers called to the scene used Captor spray to restrain him when he threatened to stab one of them with a knife.

He at first claimed the boy was his son, a story which the child was schooled to play along with.

Dianne Chan, prosecuting, said the boy's family started to worry when he broke his 6.30pm curfew.

Miss Chan said: "When he returned home the boy's mother wanted to know what had been going on.

"He said he had been with a friend and his mother. After questioning him, he said he had met a man and gone off to a Little Chef. The mother called police that night."

Mr Tait-Bower said checks revealed Wise had a number of previous convictions for burglary, theft, drink-driving and driving while disqualified.

More significantly, he had convictions stretching back 15 years for indecently assaulting a boy and two acts of gross indecency with a child.

He added: "He got credit for pleading guilty because there is nothing more traumatic than giving evidence and he spared the child that."

Terry Banks, defending, said: "The boy was not traumatised, as are so many victims of abduction. There was no violence or threats of violence used. This is a technical offence that lacks the sinister overtones often found in abduction cases."

But Judge John Sessions, sentencing, said: "Taking into account the 1990 offences, it is quite clear it is imperative a person like you needs to be kept away from children. That's the way most members of the public would perceive it."

During police interviews, Wise had claimed the stigma from his earlier convictions was having a continuing impact on his life.

The judge said: "You told police you feel you have been carrying a cross since the 1990 offences. There's no suggestion you have any appreciation of the other side of that coin.

"Your feelings about those offences come over clearly in interview. It must not be overlooked that your victims are carrying a far more burdensome cross than you will ever bear. It's clear the child was at risk."

Wise was jailed for two years and sentenced to an extra nine months because the kidnap took place while he was on licence for an earlier conviction of burglary.

Police are applying for a sex offender preventative order to stop him approaching any children when he is released.