'Dangerous' Barrow sex offender jailed after police sting

John Ward had previous convictions relating to underage children

A sex offender has been jailed after arranging to meet a 14-year-old boy at a supermarket.

John Ward was arrested when he arrived to meet the child and was met by police officers who had been investigating his illegal activity online.

The 63-year-old, from Sutherland Street, Barrow-in-Furness, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years at Preston Crown Court.

Det Con Sarah Aiston of Cumbria Police said Ward was a "dangerous man".

Ward sent explicit sexualised messages to what he believed was a minor.

He arranged a meeting at Tesco Express in Rawlinson Street, Barrow, in November.

However when he arrived, police officers arrested him and later charged him with a number of offences.

He had already been given a sexual harm prevention order following previous convictions relating to a minor.

On Thursday, he was sentenced to 30 months for attempting to arrange to meet the child.

He was also sentenced to nine months for failing to comply with notification requirements, and nine months for breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

The sentences will run concurrently.

After sentencing, Ms Aiston, of the Cumbria Police cyber and digital crime unit, said: "John Ward is a dangerous man who used social media to communicate with a person he thought to be a 14-year-old boy.

"Despite him being clearly aware that the person he was messaging had said they were 14, he continued to explicitly detail sexualised thoughts and arranged to meet them in person."