A pervert who was arrested after violence broke out at Bluewater shopping centre has admitted his guilt.

Mirza Mispa Beg, of no fixed address, fell into a trap laid by the vigilante paedophile group The Hunted One.

The 29-year-old went to the shopping centre in Greenhithe on April 12 believing he was meeting a 14-year-old girl for sex - and was immediately confronted by members of the group.

But the situation escalated when witnesses attacked Beg – leading to a warning from police that the public should not take the law into their own hands.

Beg admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence when he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday by TV link with Elmley Prison.

Judge Charles Macdonald adjourned sentence until June 26.

Following the violence, Lee Harvey, 20, of The Drive, Gravesend, and Joe Simpkin, 20, of Wheatstone Road, Erith, were charged with affray.

The Hunted One live streamed the confrontation on Facebook, but because of the violence has since said it will no longer do so in such cases.

“We have decided as a team we won’t be going live anymore because we don’t want to put ourselves or members of the public in danger, and we don’t want what we are trying to achieve to be damaged,” said a spokesman who only wanted to be identified as Ben.

“I don’t blame people for reacting like they do, but at the same time we’ve got to do this in the right manner and keep inside the law.”

The group says more than 250 people have been brought to justice through stings it has carried out in Kent and across the UK.

The police’s public protection unit said the force had “significant concerns” about people taking the law into their own hands.