A MAN who believed he had been speaking to a young girl online escaped out of his back window when paedophile hunters came to confront him, a court heard.

Barry Butcher, of Mill Lane in Buckley, appeared for sentence at Mold Crown Court on Monday morning.

The 42-year-old had previously admitted attempting to incite a girl under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity by talking about her sexual encounters and experience, as well as attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child by sending an intimate image of himself to her.

Michael Whitty, prosecuting told the court that in July of 2021, Butcher used a chat app to make contact with a girl named Kayla.

She quickly informed him she was 14 years of age, but Butcher continued speaking to her over the course of around a month.

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He'd refer to her by a number of names including 'babe, honey, baby, darling and sweetheart," and made reference to Kayla going to live with him.

When she asked what people would say, he replied: "They don't need to know anything darling."

Butcher then turned the chat to sex, and her knowledge of it.

He asked her for a photo of herself and told her he "fancied her," and "loved her-" asking her to be his girlfriend and encouraging her to visit him.

"I'd love to cook you dinner," he messaged her, before sending her a photo of his genitals.

But in reality, there was no Kayla.

The account Butcher was speaking with was operated by an adult woman who was part of a "paedophile hunter team," the court heard.

On August 11, the team attended the defendant's home and live-streamed as they confronted him.

He protested and said he'd stopped what he was doing, then appeared to accept he'd made mistakes.

But he ended up escaping via his rear window whilst the team was there.

Police attended and Butcher was arrested when he returned home, claiming he hadn't done anything wrong.

He told officers he'd known all along Kayla hadn't been a 14-year-old, and that it was "simply a fantasy."

Simon Mintz, defending, told the court: "The last 18 months have really taken their toll on him.

"Even before the offence, he was a man of low self-esteem living an isolated life.

"Since the offence, he's suffered frequent verbal abuse, assaults, threats - forcing him to live in seclusion, constantly in fear for his safety.

"He has lost his job in a convenience store and feels nothing but regret about the way he has conducted himself."

Judge Nicola Saffman told the defendant: "It is clear to me that you are, or certainly were at the time, a sad and pathetic individual.

"You engaged in conversation with what you thought was a 14-year-old and it quickly became sexual.

The Leader:

"A group of vigilantes attended your address and confronted you about what you'd done.

"You were threatened and sworn at by these people and were so frightened that you escaped through the back window."

Judge Saffman took the live-streamed confrontation - and its impact on Butcher's life - as mitigation, handing down an eight month custodial term but suspending it for 18 months.

Butcher must complete a 35-session programme requirement, 30 days of rehabilitation activity and pay a £156 victim surcharge.

He was also made subject to a 10 year sexual harm prevention order and notification requirements for the same period.