April 2018 Businessman, 55, who told a ’15-year-old schoolgirl’ he wanted to be ‘her first’  A middle-aged businessman was caught on camera when he turned up to meet an underage schoolgirl after saying he wanted to take her virginity. Married Alan Leightley was confronted by paedophile hunters Dark Justice when he arrived at central station in Newcastle to see 15-year-old ‘Amy’ in January, after six months of grooming via graphic online messages. The 55-year-old had told the teen, over the Whisper mobile phone app and later Whatsapp, that he wanted to be ‘her first’ and promised he would be ‘gentle and patient’. During conversations, which started last summer, he told the youngster he was performing a sex act on himself while looking at images of her and convinced her she was ‘gorgeous’ But Newcastle Crown Court heard the ‘Amy’ profile had been set up and was being maintained by a decoy on behalf of Dark Justice and that no such girl actually existed. When Leightley realised he had been collared he begged the group members to let him go, otherwise his life ‘would be destroyed’. But the police were contacted and Leightley, of Elder Drive, Fenham, Newcastle, admitted attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. He claimed if a real teen had turned up he would have ‘talked to her and hugged her as she seemed lonely’ but would not have done anything sexual. The court heard he has no previous convictions or cautions but was given a fixed penalty notice in 2014 for masturbating in a park in North Tyneside. Judge Simon Batiste sentenced him to 12 months behind bars. Leightley must sign the sex offenders register for ten years and abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order for life.