Paedophile who targeted young girls spared jail

COURT: Offender caught by vigilante sting at bus station

A paedophile who was trapped by a vigilante sting when he tried to meet under-age girls for sex has been allowed to walk free from court.

Matthew Sayers, 32, thought he was getting off a bus to meet children aged 12 and 13 but had been set up by a paedophile hunter group and was cornered at Dundee Bus Station when he arrived from Edinburgh on January 11.

Paedophile hunter James Doyle – who had been posing online as “Rachel Cavendish, 12” and “Lucie Riley,13” – tackled Sayers at the bus station.

Mr Doyle, who was part of the Child Protectors Scotland group, restrained

Sayers until police arrived to arrest him.

The court heard Sayers had contacted the fake profiles in early January and had kept engaging with them after they told him they were only 12 and 13. He sent increasingly explicit messages.

Sayers, of Hyvot Mill Drive, Edinburgh, admitted attempting to send sexual written communications to two people for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification or causing humiliation, distress or alarm. He also admitted meeting or communicating with individuals not believed to have attained the age of 16 and attempting to meet with them with the intent of engaging in unlawful sexual activity.

Sayers, who was sentenced by video link yesterday, was placed on the sex offenders register and on supervision for three years, as well as being ordered to carry out 170 hours unpaid work in the community.

A conduct requirement was also imposed by Sheriff Lorna Drummond.