A FORMER pro footballer from Thurrock will be sentenced for child sex offences next month.

Tyrell Robinson, 22, from South Ockendon, admitted engaging in sexual activity with a child and making and distributing an indecent image of a child via Snapchat when he appeared before Bradford Crown Court in June this year.

A child soccer starlet, Robinson joined Arsenal when he was just seven and turned professional in January 2015 before being released by the Gunners in February 2017.

After trials with Watford and West Bromwich Albion he signed a one-year contract with Bradford City in May 2017 and then gained an extension which would have run until the summer this year - but he was sacked by Bradford when the offences came to light.

His sentencing was delayed because it was linked the the trial of another Essex man, Korie Berman, 21, who had originally pleaded not guilty to five charges of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a child, and was due to stand trial in April.

However, he has now changed his plea to guilty and the pair will appear in court in January for sentencing.