An internet groomer was confronted by members of a paedophile hunting group after he arranged to meet an underaged girl at a supermarket.

David Hack thought he was going to meet a girl called Felicity who he had chatted up online but instead he was confronted by members of a Plymouth based vigilante group.

The girl did not exist and he had been trapped by a female paedophile hunter from Wales who had passed on details of the rendezvous to the Plymouth group.

Hack, 34, met the fictitious girl on the Badoo and Hot or Not websites where she used the profile Felicity30 but told him she was 15.

He claimed he had been trying to give her sex education after he was trapped by the sting operation and interviewed by police.

During his web chats with Felicity he suggested she should touch herself sexually and he sent her an image which he said was of his penis.

He did not suggest they have full sex when they met and discussed waiting for her 16th birthday, Exeter Crown Court was told.

He made the online contact at a time when he was lonely and isolated because he lived in a small village in the South Hams where he was the full-time carer for his seriously ill grandmother.

David Hack, 34, from Churchstow, admitted attempting to meet a child following grooming and attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity.

He was jailed for 16 months, suspended for two years and ordered to attend a sex offenders programme and do 10 days of rehabilitation activities by Judge Erik Salomonsen.

Hack was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which restricts his contact with children and allows the police to monitor his online activity.

The judge told him:"There came a time when you went to Morrisons in Kingsbridge intending to make contact and meet. The purpose for that in your mind was unclear and there is no specific indication of sexual activity when you arranged to meet.

"In fact Felicity did not exist and had been created by a member of a paedophile hunting group. You were set up and succumbed to what you saw online."

He said he was suspending the sentence so Hack could continue to care for his grandmother and could undergo a treatment programme that was only available in the community.

Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said a paedophile hunter from Wales named Jackie Kempson had created the online profile of Felicity which had attracted the interest of Hack.

Chat logs showed their conversation became sexualised after initial contact on November 7 and led to him suggesting a meeting at Morrison’s in Kingsbridge on November 18.

He was intercepted by members of Plymouth Against Paedophiles, who had been alerted by Ms Kempson, and who detained him until police arrived.

James Taghdissian, defending, said Hack is the main carer for his frail 84-year-old grandmother, who could not cope on her own without him. His role meant he was lonely and socially isolated.

He said Hack initially thought Felicity was 3o because of her profile name but accepts he carried on the web chats after she said she was 15.

He said Hack had suggested waiting until she was 16 before they had sex and had told her he did not want to do anything too sexual when they met.

Mr Taghdissian said:"He was not searching for a young child but came across somebody who initially purported to be much older. He was also told she was shortly turning 16 and there was a discussion about what they may do on her birthday."