Trowbridge man jailed after vigilante sting

The court heard David Taylor sent photographs of himself and that he "engaged in conversations of a sexually explicit nature"

A man who was caught by a "paedophile hunter" when he went to meet a "girl" he groomed online has been jailed.

David Taylor, 45, made online sexual approaches to what he thought was an 11-year-old before arranging to meet her in Bath in April.

When Taylor, of Rodwell Park, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, arrived he was confronted by the unnamed vigilante.

Taylor was jailed for 40 months after he admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

Police launched an investigation and traced Taylor from a video of the confrontation posted on Facebook.

After being arrested Taylor told police he had taken condoms with him to the meeting outside a KFC restaurant.

'Inadequate man'

James Haskell, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court : "It seems this person had effectively sought to emulate what is referred to as 'paedophile hunters' and that person engaged in online chat conversations with the defendant pretending to be an 11-year-old girl.

"The defendant engaged in conversations with that person believing it was a child under 13. He sent photographs of himself and he engaged in conversations of a sexually explicit nature."

Simon Goodman, defending, said Taylor was "an inadequate man".

He said Taylor had been "suffering recently from mental health problems and had probably never had a proper relationship".

Taylor was also given a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.