Dad unmasked by vigilantes jailed for three years after messaging 12-year-old ...

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A father-of-three who avoided jail when he tried to meet young girls for sex has now been sent to prison after being caught messaging children for a second time.  

Paul Spence was detained by volunteers in a citizen's arrest then arrested by police after he sent explicit WhatsApp messages to an investigator posing as an 11-year-old girl.

But the 47-year-old from New Moston, Manchester, was released under investigation after claiming his messages were a 'joke'.

The same group, Child Online Safety Team (COST), caught Spence again seven months later when he began communicating with a volunteer pretending to be a 12-year-old girl.

In a series of messages Spence arranged a meeting in Manchester and said: 'Do you have a boyfriend? Have you ever kissed anybody? I could teach you how to kiss. Do you want me to wash your back. Do you want me to see your breasts.'

He was then confronted for a second time at his home in New Moston, Manchester by the same group who streamed the encounter on social media.   

Spence was jailed for three years at Manchester Crown Court, after he pleaded guilty to 12 charges including attempts to incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Spence first came to the attention of the vigilante group in November 2017 when he logged onto the social media network Qeep and began communicating with what he thought was an 11-year old girl.

Prosecutor Jonathan Savage told the court Spence encourage the 'girl' to send explicit photos, warned her not to tell anyone and threatened her, saying 'if you loved me you'd send them.'

He said: 'In the first contact with this person he said: 'Do you like older men?' to which she responded: 'I don't know I'm only 11.'

'He said: "You've got good t**s for 11". They switched to WhatsApp and the defendant asked if she wanted him to be her secret boyfriend and said:

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