Paedophile caught TWICE by undercover police – and then came up with a ‘ludicrous’ excuse


A paedophile caught by two separate undercover police officers posing as 13-year-old girls came up with a ‘ludicrous’ excuse when he was stopped while trying to meet one of them for sex.
James Davidson, 53, was apprehended as he drove an Audi TT to an area near the Tesco store and Bolton Wanderers stadium in Horwich.
After being pulled over, Davidson, from Stockport, told officers: “This is ridiculous. I don’t know what all this is about.
“I just pulled in there because I didn’t feel well.”
He had actually arranged to meet a ’13-year-old girl’ there, after ‘grooming’ her online.
During some of the ‘filthy’ conversations with one ‘girl’, he said ‘age doesn’t matter’.
Judge Mark Savill told Davidson, who was previously cautioned for exposing himself to a child via a chat room webcam: “You tried to fob them off with a quite ludicrous excuse.
“You had had a shot across your bows. That didn’t deter you.”
After being arrested and then released under investigation, a year later Davidson began sending messages to another ’13-year-old girl’, actually another undercover officer.
Now he has been jailed for two years.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Davidson started messaging the first ‘girl’ in June 2018.
She said she was 13, but the discussion quickly turned sexual, prosecutor Gavin Howie said.
Mr Howie said the messages included ‘classic grooming gambits’, references to sex and to meeting up.
Davidson sent the ‘girl’ a picture of two adults in a ‘sexual embrace’, and suggested that they could do the same, the court heard.
He also said that he could ‘get a room so they could be in bed together naked’.
Davidson then suggested they could meet up on a ‘quiet road’.
In subsequent conversations he asked her: “Are you really willing to meet me and have sex?”
“I think so, yeah,” the ‘girl’ replied.
They agreed to meet near the Tesco store and the University of Bolton stadium, in July 2018.
Police officers were stationed nearby, and pulled him over after they saw him approach in an Audi TT.
His mobile phone was seized, and he was handcuffed while still sat in the car.
It was then that he told officers: “This is ridiculous. I don’t know what all this is about.
“I just pulled in there because I didn’t feel well.”
In interview, Davidson answered ‘no comment’ to questions, and refused to reveal the PIN number for his iPhone.
He was released under investigation, and came to the attention of police again a year later, in July.
Again he began sending messages to someone who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, who was actually an undercover police officer.
Similarly Davidson began to make references to sex, and suggested they could meet up.
Police traced his IP address and learned it was Davidson.
After being arrested again, he denied any wrongdoing.
Defending, Paul Becker said that Davidson has been in prison on remand for six months, and that it has been a ‘salutary experience’.
Sentencing, Judge Savill told Davidson: “You are someone who has had, and continues to have an interest in young girls, of a sexual nature.”
The judge said a pre-sentence report indicated Davidson has ‘no real insight or willingness to discuss your interest’.
He said he was not satisfied that there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation for Davidson, and jailed him.
Davidson, of Mendip Close, Stockport, pleaded guilty to four offences.
They included two counts of attempting to sexually communicate with a child, one count of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and one count of attempting to meet following sexual grooming.
He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.