Ex-council manager tried to meet ‘boy’
A married former local authority boss was caught on camera trying to meet a 15-year-old boy he believed he had befriended on a gay networking site.
George Applegarth, who had a wife for 42 years, with three children and seven grandchildren, started chatting to someone he thought was a teenage boy over Grindr.
But he was actually in conversation with paedophile hunters Guardians of the North.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the 64-year-old grandad arranged to meet the underage teen at an Asda car park in Pennywell, but when Applegarth turned up, he was confronted by members of the group, who had a video camera and the police in tow.
Applegarth, of Station Estate North, Murton, pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.
The court heard Applegarth had been told early in the online conversation that he was speaking to a 15-year-old boy called “Martin”, with whom he engaged in explicit sexual chat.
Prosecutor Michael Bunch said Applegarth made a full confession when he was questioned by the police.
Judge Edward Bindloss sentenced Applegarth, who spent six weeks in custody on remand, to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with programme requirements, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ten years on the sex offenders register.
Vince Ward, defending, said: “This conviction destroys his hitherto good character.”
The court heard Applegarth worked as a local authority manager before retirement.