A Banbury man tried to meet a ‘child’ for sex.

But the 13-year-old girl with whom Jamie Mobbs, 28, was talking online was a decoy account or a ‘fake child’, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Appearing before the court on Monday morning, Mobbs, of School View, Banbury, pleaded guilty to nine charges including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempted sexual communication and arranging the commission of a child sexual offence.

He planned to meet with the 13-year-old ‘girl’ to have sex with her at her home.

The offences were carried out in February 2020.

Bailing Mobbs to return to court on August 26 for sentence, Recorder Michael Roques said: “You’ve pleaded guilty to a series of offences today but I cannot sentence you now. You’re going to need to come back to court on another occasion. The reason for that is I want a pre-sentence report to be prepared about you by the probation service.

“It’s their job to come up with recommendations for the sentencing judge and they will consider whether or not there are things other than immediate custodial sentences that can usefully be suggested to the sentencing judge. To that extent they are your best friends in the world right now.”

Isabel Delamere appeared for the Crown Prosecution Service. Gordana Austin represented Mobbs.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.