February 14, 2020 12.48 pm This story is over 56 months old

Convicted Lincolnshire sex offender caught in Wales paedophile sting

He has been jailed

A registered sex offender from a village near Spalding was caught by a paedophile hunter when he tried to meet a teenage girl in Wales for sexual purposes.

Paul Walkling, 40, of Gosberton, was jailed for four-and-a-half-years for attempting to meet a 14-year-old girl.

Walker tried to contact the girl in Wales for sexual purposes in 2019. He travelled from Lincolnshire to Wales to meet her, but on arrival he was confronted by a paedophile hunter.

He returned to Lincolnshire and the paedophile hunter passed on all of their evidence to Dyfed-Powys Police, who then contacted Lincolnshire Police.

The two forces worked together to gather further evidence before Walkling was arrested on November 28, 2019. Warrants were carried out at his home address. He was charged that evening and remanded into custody.

He pleaded guilty to the offences at Lincoln Crown Court on January 2, 2020. He appeared back in court on February 10, where he was jailed for 54 months.

Walking was previously convicted of offences involving indecent images of children in 2010. He was subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and also had to abide by the Notification Requirements under the Sexual Offences Act.