FREDERICK ADAM O’BRIEN

Just months after being prosecuted for downloading indecent images of children, Frederick Adam O’Brien, 49, was caught using a hidden mobile phone to target what he thought was a 14-year-old girl, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

O’Brien, of Glendale Rise, Morton, Carlisle, was confronted at a local hotel by vigilantes after arranging to meet the child.

The group carried out a citizen’s arrest and handed evidence to police.

He admitted three offences: Attempting to cause or incite a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity (November 13) Attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child (September 17) Failing to declare a mobile phone in breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (May 29).

Prosecutor Tim Evans said O’Brien had quickly turned his online conversations sexual, despite being told from the outset he was speaking to a child.

He even asked if she needed a “sugar daddy.” When he arrived at the hotel, he was clearly expecting to meet a 14-year-old.

In July last year, O’Brien had received a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, for offences involving indecent images.

Prosecutors argued he remained a “real risk” to the public.

His defence lawyer, Jeff Smith, suggested treatment rather than prison.

But Judge Nicholas Barker dismissed this, calling O’Brien’s actions a “deliberate subversive act” to bypass restrictions and pursue sexual misconduct.

“The work you’ve done with probation