SCOTT ANDREW HASTINGS

Pervert tried to meet underage girls - but he was talking to undercover cops The judge said: 'He's had his chance' A man previously convicted of downloading child abuse images has been jailed after making two attempts to commit sex crimes against underage girls.

And when he was arrested for that, he was found with even more pictures of little girls.

Scott Hastings got in touch with a man via the Chatiw app and tried to arrange to have sex with the man's daughter.

But there was no girl because the man was really an undercover police officer.

Scott Hastings got in touch with a man via the Chatiw app and tried to arrange to have sex with the man's daughter.

But there was no girl because the man was really an undercover police officer.

When the officer asked if Hastings just wanted photographs of the girl, whose age was never discussed, Hasting said he wanted to have sex with her.

However, Hastings did not contact the officer again.

But a week later, Hastings, 43, contacted another police officer who pretended to be a paedophile with a seven-year-old daughter who was available for Hasting to abuse.

Hastings told the officer he wanted to commit various sexual offences against the girl.

He spoke about meeting the man's daughter the following weekend but he was arrested before the weekend arrived.

By that point, the officer from the first offence had identified Hastings, and officers were sent to his home in Leicestershire, where he was arrested.

Hastings, who has since moved to Willington Road in Etwall, Derbyshire, ended up being charged with four offences by Leicestershire Police, including breaching the 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order he had been given after his illegal images conviction in 2018.

He was also charged with two counts of attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence and a further count of making indecent images, which were found on his phone after his latest arrest.

At Leicester Crown Court on Monday (December 8) he appeared for sentencing, having previously pleaded guilty to the charges.

Judge William Harbage KC, sentencing him, heard that in 2021 Hastings had been given a caution for a previous breach of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

As well as jailing Hastings, the judge extended the order to last the rest of Hastings' life, allowing the police and Probation Service to closely monitor him after his release from jail.

Michelle Harding, representing Hastings, urged the judge to suspend any jail sentence so that the Probation Service would have more time to work with him to prevent him from offending.

She added that Hastings was still with his partner and that "she is standing by him whatever the outcome".

But the judge said he had to jail Hastings for the offences, which were committed in May 2022.

He said: "He's had his chance." Judge Harbage said that although no child was actually abused, he was obliged to sentence Hastings according to what he had intended to do to the fictitious girls had he managed to meet up with them.

The judge said: "The extent of his ambition is pretty clear." Hastings stood visibly shaking in the dock as Judge Harbage jailed him for two years and four months.