A 28-year-old man who had been left socially isolated following a relationship break-up started chatting to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl on Snapchat before asking her to send him explicit images of herself.

Preston Crown Court heard how Saul Cummins had initially begun talking to adult females online, in order to “build his confidence” following his relationship ending, but after a while began engaging with a teenager called ‘Isabella’.

Prosecuting, Eleanor Myres said undercover police had created the profile of the 13-year-old girl, ‘Isabella’, across various social media platforms, so they could gather evidence about online paedophiles.

She told the court that Cummins contacted the ‘girl’ on one social media platform using the name ‘Dec’, before adding her on Snapchat using his handle, ‘Saul!!!’.

During the initial contact, in November 2022, he told ‘Isabella’ he was 20 and she told him she was 13. 

Ms Myers said: “What followed were lengthy conversations on Snapchat between the pair, with ‘Isabella’ engaging throughout, sometimes sending messages that were suggestive in nature as well.”

In December 2022, the police attended his home address in Coal Clough Lane, Burnley, where he confirmed he was the owner of the Snapchat username ‘Saul!!!’.

He was arrested and police seized his mobile phone, with analysis revealing that Cummins had downloaded two category A images of children (category A is the worst kind), six category B images and six category C images.

He was also found in possession of four prohibited images of children.

In terms of mitigation, it was heard that Cummins had “no understanding of why he engaged with the decoy and was ashamed of his actions”, “regrets everything he has done” and “never wants to appear before the courts again”.

It was also heard that the 28-year-old suffers with anxiety and depression but has never been treated for these issues and had been left socially isolated following “a bad breakdown of a previous relationship”.

Cummins pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, possessing a prohibited image of a child and attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child.

He has no previous convictions and is of good character.

Sentencing, Judge Richard Gioserano said: “In one sense you have been fortunate, you could have been charged with attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, because during the course of the messages you are asking for sexual images from who you believed to be a 13-year-old child, and you are asking for her to touch herself.

“If you had been charged with that you would have had no option but to plead guilty and I would have been sat here dealing with very different sentencing guidelines and there would have been no prospect of anything other than an immediate prison sentence.

“However, that is not the position. I have to take into account that this is an attempt and a real child was not involved.

“I believe you have a deviant sexual interest in children. Why do you continue to deny that which is obvious to everyone else, why don’t you find the courage to admit it because if you do there will be a chance to address it and get some help.”

Cummins was jailed for 16 months suspended for two years.

He must complete 40 rehabilitation activity days and 150 hours of unpaid work.

He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and must sign the sex offender’s register for the same period.