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A pensioner was arrested by police after he arranged to meet up with who he thought was a 12-year-old girl at the Bandstand in Caerphilly town centre.

William Anderson, 81, of Pembroke Court, Hendredenny, exchanged sexual text messages with a decoy called “Layla”.

Anderson told Layla she didn’t need to “worry about becoming pregnant” because he was infertile, and told her to keep their conversations secret.

He also asked her to send him topless pictures of herself on more than one occasion.

However, Layla was in fact a police decoy – not a 12-year-old girl. When Anderson arrived at the Bandstand to meet her, he was arrested by police.

Anderson appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday, July 9 and was handed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The court heard how Anderson, using the username “BillCricket”, first spoke to the decoy on online chatroom Lycos, then later WhatsApp.

The conversation began on April 20. When Anderson was told by the decoy that she was just 12-years-old, he responded: “It’s a pity you’re so young.”

He also asked her if she had started having periods, and if he could touch her breasts and private parts.

He also suggested they could “sneak into the bushes and be alone together” and asked if she would be naked.

While he admitted the offences, he claimed he was not aroused by the coversations, and only wanted to meet with her to tell her they could no longer speak to each other.

He pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child.

Mitigating, Owen Williams said Anderson had a number of ailments, but had lived a “productive, industrious and law-abiding life” prior to these offences, and that his life changed following the death of his wife seven years ago.

Sentencing, Judge Christopher Vosper QC said: “There are a number of mitigating features in this case. You are 81, you have no previous convictions, I accept you are remorseful and before this you lived an exemplary life.”

Anderson was ordered to carry out 25 days rehabilitation activity requirement and was given a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.