Ellesmere Port man jailed for attempted sex offence

Stuart Tudor, of Old Chester Road in Ellesmere Port, appeared for sentence at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday afternoon.

The 42-year-old had previously admitted offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, three of attempting to incite a child to engage in a sexual act and one of attempting to cause a child to look at an image of sexual activity.

Rosemary Proctor, prosecuting, told the court that last year in Flintshire, the defendant communicated with a female he thought was 14 years old.

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But in reality, the person on the other end of the conversation was an adult woman who was acting as a decoy.

The 'girl' told Tudor her age and that she lived in Flint - to which he replied he was a 41 year old man living in Connah's Quay.

And despite initially challenging the girl, telling her the social media app she was using was meant to be for over 18's, he went on to speak to her for around six weeks, with the content becoming sexual in nature.

Over the period of the offending, Tudor suggested numerous sex acts he wanted to carry out with her, as well as sending the girl a video which was sexual in nature.

The discussion included talk of penetrative sexual activity, which made the offending all the more serious.

Stuart Tudor (North Wales Police) (Image: NWP)

Tudor also told her he was taking cocaine and offered some to her.

On August 17 last year, six members of the group which the decoy was part of attended his home and confronted him, following which he was arrested.

Robin Boag, defending, told the court: "The two best points in mitigation I can put forward on behalf of Mr Tudor are that he had the good sense to plead guilty and up until now he's been a man with no convictions or cautions whatsoever.

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"He has basically led an industrious, harmless life until last year, when he got involved in this behaviour on the internet, communicating with a decoy.

"Of course he didn't realise that until August 17 when these people came to his doorstep.

"Right from the outset, he has always come to court expecting to go to custody."

Mr Boag said while the disparity in age between his client and the girl he thought he was speaking to made matters more serious for him, he had been open about his own age from the start as opposed to claiming he was younger.

The court heard that in his pre-sentence report, the defendant had referenced cocaine use and boredom as 'factors' in his offending.

But Mr Boag said: "While they may be factors, he certainly accepts and has to face the fact that people who use cocaine and get bored don't then go on the internet and engage in the sort of conversations he has - there must be elements of sexual gratification to it."

Recorder Simon Mills said: "Almost on a weekly basis this court gets cases like this where men like yourself have not just thrown away their good character, but revealed of themselves an urge to communicate with a child in this sexual way.

"You had a rough experience when these people came to you - you were exposed in a quite aggressive manner and I am sure they shouldn't have behaved in the way they did.

"But that's the risk you took."

Recorder Mills said Tudor's case was simply too serious for anything other than an immediate custodial sentence, handing down a total sentence of two years.

He was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and notification requirements for ten years.