A PAEDOPHILE is likely to serve just six years for the attempted kidnap of a schoolboy -- and then walk free from prison to mix with children without being subject to a restraining order.

Notorious sex offender John Foley was sentenced to 10 years, but will serve nowhere near that length of time.

On his release he will be free to walk near schools, parks and any other area in which children are present.

A loophole in the law means police will have little control over the 31-year-old sex beast, who was jailed at Manchester Crown Court on Friday for the attempted kidnap of a 10-year-old boy.

Because Foley, a convicted paedophile, was not charged with a sexual offence on this occasion he cannot be made subject to a restraining order banning him from areas where children gather. Detectives believe Foley, who grabbed the boy by the throat on Hawthorne Road, Deane, before trying to pull him into his car, had intended to sexually abuse or indecently assault him.

Today Bolton MP Dr Brian Iddon called for the law to be toughened in a bid to prevent people like Foley from reoffending.

He said: "Someone as dangerous as John Foley has to be placed under surveillance. If people like him admit they will never stop reoffending, then they constantly pose a threat to children. In a civilised society that is wrong."

Foley admitted the charge of attempted kidnap and was jailed for 10 years.

On his release, he will be forced to sign the Sex Offenders' Register which contains the names and addresses of paedophiles, adult rapists and men convicted of having sex with underage girls.

But signing the register gives the authorities limited powers over offenders, who only have to notify police if they change their name or home address, leave their house for two weeks or more, or go abroad on holiday.

A restraining order would have been much more effective and would have banned Foley from visiting areas popular with children. Police could not even apply for the order, which was introduced last year, because he was not convicted of a sex offence on this occasion.

However, Foley will be banned from working with children because of his criminal record. He had previously been jailed in 1998 for a sex offence against a youngster.

He had a string of offences dating back to 1989, including assault, gross indecency and indecent exposure.

Foley had been released from prison just 15 months before attacking the schoolboy on February 6, 2002.

He had also claimed he was thinking about killing a child, a psychologist's report revealed, and police viewed him as one of the most dangerous men in Bolton.

Dr Iddon, MP for Bolton South-east, said: "The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, has promised to raise the whole issue of paedophilia and sex offences in the next session of Parliament. I would be very surprised if the law on paedophiles is not toughened."

"Parents throughout Bolton will be wary of people like Foley being released back into society with the police having few powers to monitor his movements. I will welcome a lengthy Parliamentary discussion on this issue."