April 2019 Pervert caught by paedophile hunting team A paedophile that contacted young girls for sex online has avoided a prison sentence after he was caught by paedophile hunters Andrew Thomas Grant From Tranent, East Lothian appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court where he admitted online grooming offences  The court was told that Grant who worked as a security guard for Royal London in Edinburgh had contacted the online profiles of two profiles he believed belonged to two girls aged 12 and 14 years old Grant sent highly sexualised chat to the girls, which included a video of himself masturbating.  The pervert told one girl that he had sex with his daughters 12 year old friend and that his daughter and friend touch him sexually. However, this was found to be a lie. Throughout the chat, Grant made it clear that he wanted to engage both girls into sexual activity.  However, the girls did not actually exist and were instead members of a paedophile hunting team. The team due to their location passed the chat log onto another team called ‘Protecting All Innocent Souls’ who confronted Grant on their behalf on 20th February 2019 The team questioned Grant on his internet activity and asked him why he thought it was acceptable to speak to young girls like he did. The team rang the police and Grant was arrested at the scene. Grant was later remanded to prison until his sentencing   The judge handed Grant a community pay back order of 160 hours of unpaid work A two year supervision order was put in place and he was told to register as a sex offender for five years