A PENSIONER who said he wanted to ‘turn boys gay’ at a swimming pool has been jailed for two years.

Kevin Harrison, 70, was scheming with an accomplice to visit Daisyfield’s swimming pools on Daisy Lane, Blackburn, on August 27, 2019, with the pair discussing how they wanted to meet young boys at swimming pools or parks, and how they would “turn them gay”.

Preston Crown Court heard how Harrison and the other man had been texting back and forth the day before their plan, with him saying he enjoyed watching a 13-year-old boy in his school uniform.

Prosecuting the case, Rachael Woods said that Harrison sent his address to his accomplice so they could meet the morning before but Harrison says the pair never followed through on the plan.

Harrison’s involvement in the plan came to light on November 5, 2019, when his partner in crime was arrested and police searched his mobile phone, revealing the text conversations between the pair.

Ms Woods said that when the defendant was interviewed, he admitted to knowing the other man, but claimed that the messages were ‘fantasy’ and that he never intended to act upon them.

Harrison, who represented himself in the dock, pleaded not guilty to the charges, with a jury finding him guilty of arranging and facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and publishing an obscene article after a trial on March 3.

He said: “I do not deny I sent those messages, but I had no intentions. On my part it was pure fantasy.

“I had no intentions of carrying out on it. It never happened.

“I am not dangerous to children. I regret doing those texts. I regret meeting him.”

A shocked-looking Harrison was sentenced to two years in prison by Judge Simon Medland QC.

Judge Medland said: “They were disgusting conversations that you had about abusing teenage boys, whether they were mere fantasy or whether they were acting to plan.

“It is plain from the jury’s verdict that they were quite sure this was much more than that. They were sure it was a plan for you to carry out.

“They were pornographic conversations of a paedophilic nature.

“It is my judgement this offence is so serious that it meets the custodial threshold.”

Harrison, of Brantwood Avenue, Blackburn, was also handed a sexual harm prevention order and sexual offences notification requirement for 10 years.