Phillip Smith 52

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A man who sent explicit messages to three people he wrongly believed to be underage girls has been jailed.

Phillip Smith, aged 52, asked for explicit pictures after messaging three ‘girls’ on Facebook.

Unbeknown to Smith, however, the ‘girls’ – who told him they were aged 13, 14 and 14 – were actually members of an online child safety group, which later shared its evidence with the police.

Smith, of Dennis Avenue, Beeston, was confronted by the group in Beeston (pictured above left) and asked why he was sending sexualised messages to young girls.

Nottingham Crown Court heard he was already subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order having committed similar sexual offences in the past.

At his sentencing on Wednesday (7 January), Smith was jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Detective Sergeant Elizabeth Gray, of Nottinghamshire Police’s public protection team said:

“Smith committed serious sexual offences with people he believed to be only 13 or 14 years old. Thankfully this was not the case and no children were harmed by his actions.

“But he knew perfectly well that what he was doing was wrong and he has rightly been punished.

“Although online activist groups work at their own discretion, Nottinghamshire Police will continue to respond to information provided by members of the public and that will not change.”