A PARENTING group has hit out after a man who groomed a schoolgirl for sex walked free from court.

Gareth Walker, 24, met the 14-year-old at a wedding and used text messages, phone calls and emails to groom her over a three-month period.

He then booked a hotel room to share with the girl, told her to wear high heels so she looked older and suggested they have a shower together.

But the girl's parents became aware of what was happening after their daughter had gone to meet Walker and called the police, who arrested him at the hotel.

Walker, of Finsley Street, Harle Syke, Burnley was given a 30-week prison sentence, suspended for two years after admitting sexually grooming the girl.

He was also banned from working with children, and given a five-year sexual offences prevention order, banning him from contact with an under-16 without another adult present.

But Lyn Costello, co-founder of parents' group Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, condemned his sentence.

She said: "We are never going to stamp out paedophilia, and this is paedophilia, with sentences like this.

"Whether you are a 24-year-old or a 44-year-old, if you are grooming a 14-year-old for sex you are a paedophile and you should go to prison.

"This is happening more and more and unless we crack down on it we are never going to stop it."

Burnley Crown Court heard that the pair had met at a wedding at the Sparrow Hawk Hotel last July and the girl used a cover story to deceive her parents in a bid to see Walker there again.

Alexandra Simmons, prosecuting, told the court the girl told her parents Walker was 17, but they thought he was older. Last September, they caught her trying to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night to meet him.

Despite that, the pair were in constant contact, with text messages, phone calls and emails.

Later, they arranged to meet at the hotel and the girl told her parents that she would be staying the night at a friend's. They found out the truth after checking her story.

They discovered Walker's true age and the girl's father began to make investigations on an old mobile telephone and accessing her computer. Police were called in.

The prosecutor said text messages revealed the arrangements to meet at the hotel and included the defendant telling her to look older than she was and saying he loved her.

Miss Simmons said Walker asked the girl to send picture messages including the outfit she intended to wear so he could assess if she looked old enough. The girl was urged to wear high heels to look older and taller. Walker booked a double room for them, suggested they shower together in the morning and when she was said to have promised to treat him and he asked her how, she replied:"You will have to wait and see."

But the girl caught a bus home when she realised her parents knew where she was, and Walker was arrested at the hotel.

Walker, who has four previous convictions, but none for similar offences, denied the meeting was pre-arranged and claimed he had booked a room because he was having a night out.

When he was questioned again he owned up to the messages but said the police were taking them out of context. He denied any sexual activity had taken place or was going to take place.

But Judge Beverly Lunt said the case was "troubling", and that while the girl had been silly and acted her age, Walker was a lot older.

Philip Holden, defending, said Walker, who had a young daughter, was a hard-working, industrious member of society who was "fearful" of prison. He said his manager at work had come to support Walker and he was clearly well regarded.