by Paul Hooper

A guitar tutor bombarded a Herne Bay schoolgirl with more than 23,000 text messages during a nine-month relationship.

Nicholas Sedgley, 43, also received more than 11,000 texts in reply from the teenager during their secret love affair.

The married musician – who also worked for Meals On Wheels – sat with his head bowed during a two-day hearing at Canterbury Crown Court.

He had been charged with meeting a child for sex after grooming and three counts of sex activity with a child.

But Judge Adele Williams had earlier ruled that Sedgley, who now lives with his mother in Ramsgate Road, Margate, had been unfit to plead to the charges after receiving reports from psychiatrists.

A jury then had to decide if, after hearing evidence from the prosecution, they believed Sedgley carried out what had been alleged in the charges.

They concluded that he had not groomed the schoolgirl but did have sex with her on three separate occasions.

Now the judge has ordered more reports to decide if Sedgley – who didn't say a word through the hearing and didn't give evidence – should receive a community order or a sentence under the Mental Health Act.

Prosecutor Nicholas Alexander told the jury how a claim that a girl was being "groomed" by a guitar tutor was investigated but dismissed by the victim’s parents. However, months later the teenager complained she had been subjected to gossip.

The case was later referred to social services.

When the girl's mobile phone was handed to officers they discovered that the two had shared more than 34,000 texts using a special code where an exclamation mark meant a kiss, a hash mark meant love and brackets meant a hug, said Mr Alexander.

Judge Williams remanded Sedgley in custody until he is sentenced in August – so he can undergo more psychiatric examinations.

She said two psychiatrists had come to different conclusions about whether or not he was suffering from a mental illness.

"I have very considerable cause in this particular case to fear that the defendant would manipulate the situation.

"One of the psychiatrists had reason to ponder as to whether the defendant’s symptoms were all self-created and he suffered from no psychiatric disorder at all.

"I want a definitive answer as to whether that is the situation or whether that may be how it started and that he has now made himself ill.”