A Witney man was snared in a ‘hunter’ group’s trap – sending explicit messages to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl called Layla on Valentine’s Day.

Stewart Heather, 47, began sending messages to the ‘girl’s’ social media profile in January 2019, when the man operating the decoy account confirmed that she was 13 years of age.

She sent over pictures of herself and the older man said ‘she’ was beautiful, Oxford Crown Court heard.

By early February, he had asked for pictures of the girl in her pyjamas. And little more than a week later, on Valentine’s Day, the tone of his messages to her became more sexualised.

He asked in coded terms whether she had performed sex acts on herself. After being told that she had not and she was only 13, he sent her what a judge described as ‘graphic instructions’.

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Later that month, on February 21, Heather asked ‘Layla’ whether she had acted on those instructions. Told that she had not, he ‘encouraged’ her.

He questioned the girl further, asking whether she would let him touch her if he was with her.

‘Layla’ asked him if it was ‘okay’ to do anything with her, given she was only 13. He replied that it was not okay, but he would ‘kiss it better’.

The man operating the decoy account passed the messages to others in the vigilante group.

And at the end of February, two members of the organisation visited Heather at home - confronting him with the messages and videoing their encounter with him.

He was compliant with the pair and, later, was equally cooperative with the police.

Officers found a small amount of drugs for his own personal use at his home during their visit in February 2019.

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Heather, of Schofield Avenue, Witney, pleaded guilty in October to attempted sexual communication with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity and possession of cocaine and amphetamines. He had no relevant previous convictions

Sentencing him to eight months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, Recorder Paul Reid said it was ‘quite extraordinary’ that Heather had got involved in the offending – ‘knowing perfectly well that this sort of disgusting behaviour is illegal and that it carries custodial sentences’.

He said: “I consider that this offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.

“But I do take into consideration the remorse that you have expressed, the prospect of rehabilitation and my view that you will not commit any sort of offence like this again.

“If you do commit any sort of offence of any nature which is punishable with imprisonment within the next two years, which is the period during which I suspend this sentence, you will be sentenced not only for any further offence but this suspended sentence will be activated to run consecutively.”

As part of the sentence, Heather was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work, up to 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days and the Horizon sex offender treatment programme.

He was ordered to abide by a 10 year sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offender register for the same period of time. He must pay £670 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward