A FATHER of one has narrowly avoided being sent to prison after pleading guilty to grooming and arranging to meet someone he believed to be a child for the purposes of sex.

Mark Smith, 28, of Mulberry Grove, engaged in conversations online with Lou, who told him she was aged just 14, before arranging to meet her in the town centre for sex.

But when he arrived outside Primark on June 22 this year, he was met instead by Danny Catcher, a self-styled paedophile hunter. He was detained and the police were called.

Smith appeared at Swindon Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced, having already pleaded guilty last month to causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

The court heard that Lou, the target of Smith's grooming, did not actually exist. Instead he had been speaking to paedophile hunter Mr Catcher all along.

Prosecutor Tessa Hingston said: "Matters came about in a somewhat unusual way but a way these courts are seeing more of.

"We know the defendant was encouraged to engage in some sort of sexual activity. We know this girl was 14 years old and wished to engage in some sort of sexual activity.

"On the flip side Mr Smith did say 'if you don't want to do anything I won't push you'. He does on several occasions say he wants to engage in sexual activity despite already knowing her age."

Tony Bignall, defending, said: "The author of the pre-sentence report does not describe him as predatory.

"This is a man who is facing his demons and is ready to work with the Probation Service."

Recorder Richard Onslow imposed a three-year community order with 25 days' rehabilitation and told Smith to attend a sex offenders' treatment programme.

He said: "I have no doubt that your hopes of having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl were high, although you said she didn't have to if she didn't want to.

"It is only because you are prepared to undergo rehabilitation that it is possible for me to adopt the course of action I propose to take. Had it not been for that you would be going immediately down the stairs.

"If you do anything like this again you know where you will be going."

Smith was also placed on the sex offenders' register for five years and given a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

The work of paedophile hunters divides public opinion, with some arguing that snaring sex offenders is something that should be left to professionals.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the national policing lead on child abuse investigation, said: “The police service is committed to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse in all its forms.

“We have invested in more undercover resources and other covert resources to catch those seeking to groom children online and we are already starting to see more of these offenders being brought to justice.

“We understand the desire to protect children but any member of the public who has information about child sexual abuse, online or otherwise, should get in contact with the police so we can investigate and bring people to justice. So called paedophile hunters are taking risks they don’t understand and can undermine police investigations.

“Revealing the identity of suspected paedophiles gives the suspect the opportunity to destroy evidence before the police can investigate them. It can jeopardise ongoing police investigations and these people have no way of safeguarding child victims. It also leads to people who have been identified going missing or raising concerns for their safety. This can divert significant resources into protecting suspects, which would be better invested in investigating and, where there is evidence, prosecuting them.

“There is also the risk of wrongly accusing someone; if someone is wrongly accused of being a paedophile in a hugely public way that makes people who live with them, live near them, work with them assume they have committed the offence. The temptation to kill themselves may be just as great even if they are innocent; that is an appalling consequence to contemplate.

“If any member of the public has concerns about online grooming, they should report them to their local police, to CEOP at www.ceop.police.uk, or to Crimestoppers. If you think a child is at immediate risk of harm call 999."

An NSPCC spokesperson for South West England said: “Smith’s shocking actions highlight the dangers posed to youngsters by offenders online. He fully believed he was speaking to a 14-year-old girl, and he set about grooming her for sex before attempting to meet her.

“This kind of predatory activity can ruin childhoods, with the devastating effects lasting into adulthood.

“However, while the NSPCC has every sympathy for concerned members of the public, we would urge everyone to leave it to the proper authorities to identify and investigate offenders.

"Engaging in this kind of activity could lead to people getting hurt or jeopardising a delicate and complex on-going investigation which may put children at risk of harm.”

Any adult concerned about the welfare of a child or young person can call the NSPCC helpline for free 24/7 on 0808 800 5000. Meanwhile, children can call Childline on 0800 1111. If a child is in immediate danger, please call 999.