Whining pervert who travelled from Leyland to Leeds to meet 13-year-old says his community has shunned him

A pervert who tried to meet a 13-year-old girl 47 miles away from home while armed with condoms has moaned that he is being shunned by his community as a result.

James Murray was stung by the online paedophile hunter group, Predator Exposure, who then confronted him and live-streamed it on Facebook.

The 59-year-old said that the community in Leyland where he lives has since turned on him. Leeds Crown Court heard that he had also lost his job of 15 years, in which he worked with people with dementia.

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His barrister, Eleanor Mitten told the court: "He is quite a vulnerable person. This has led to him being ostracised in the community, and nobody will speak to him. He has had things thrown at his door and things shouted at him when he walks down the street."

The court heard that Murray had sent a friend request on Facebook to profile of the 13-year-old girl in April last year, which was run as a decoy by Predator Exposure, looking to snare potential child abusers.

Prosecutor David Ward said the conversation began innocently, but soon "turned sinister". Murray began suggesting they meet and said he would travel to Leeds.

He told her he was 58 and "fancied her" and wanted to kiss her. He suggested they share a bed in a Leeds hotel, and asked her about her underwear.

He then sent her a picture of his train ticket to Leeds and a box of condoms. He was confronted when he arrived in Leeds on April 14 last year and then arrested.

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Murray, of Merlin Grove, Leyland later admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Andrew Stubbs KC said: "You wanted to spend one or two nights in a hotel with her.

"You told the probation officer that you did not know what the age of consent is, this worries me. I can't get away with the fact that you, a man of nearly 60 years of age, would want to kiss a girl of 13, at the very least.

"It's so serious it justifies a prison sentence."

But Judge Stubbs opted to suspend the 10-month sentence for 12 months. He also gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to curb his internet use, and put him on the sex offender register for 10 years.