AN ONLINE protection group has warned young people of the pitfalls of social network sites, after triple convicted murderer Carl Mills was found to have allegedly sexually groomed one of his victims.

It comes after the Cwmbran fire triple murder trial revealed Mills met Kayleigh Buckley on social media site Facebook when she was only 15 years old.

On Thursday, Mills, 28, was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison for the murder of Kayleigh, 17, their six-month-old daughter Kimberley Buckley, and Kayleigh's mum Kim Buckley, 46.

They all died after Mills set fire to their home at 15 Tillsland, Coed Eva, during the early hours of September 18 last year.

Prosecuting barrister Gregory Bull QC told the court how Mills had set out to "groom her sexually", and a relationship developed with Kayleigh becoming "infatuated" with him.

A spokesman for Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) said: "Our advice would be not to accept a friend request on Facebook unless you know that person face-to-face.

"The internet is 99 per cent safe, but children must be made aware of the pitfalls and the dangers associated with that other one per cent.

"A lot of people nowadays claim to be someone they're not, and so young people are vulnerable to adults who pretend to be younger than they actually are.

"The internet has become a major part of our lives but we'd advise children to take extra care - if you don't know them online, you don't know them in real life. You certainly shouldn't meet up with anyone unless you know them."

During the three-week trial, Newport Crown Court heard how Mills had formed a relationship with Kayleigh after meeting her on Facebook in August 2010.

Originally from Bolton near Manchester, he had travelled to Cwmbran to see Kayleigh before moving down permanently a year later.