A pervert who was arrested after he was caught out in a sting by an anti-paedophile group has been jailed for four years.

The encounter outside Maidstone East station was live-streamed on Facebook on January 14 this year.

Members of vigilante group The Hunted One confronted 43-year-old Mark Stopher, from Sittingbourne, in Station Road.

He had been in contact with a person he believed to be a young girl and arranged to meet for sex.

The hour-long incident ended when police officers arrived. Stopher, now of Victoria Road, Chatham, was then arrested.

He admitted arranging and facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday by Judge Adele Williams.

His name will appear on the sex offenders’ register and a sexual harm prevention order was made, both indefinitely.

He will be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.

Previously police have warned people not to take the law into their own hands to try in such sting traps.

DI Robert Chitham, of the paedophile online investigation team at Kent Police, said: “I would discourage people from taking the law into their own hands to avoid them being put in any possible danger.

“Revealing the identity of suspected paedophiles, often on the basis of little information, could lead to suspects being threatened.

“This can divert significant police resources into protecting suspects, which would be better invested in investigating and, where there is evidence, prosecuting them.”

DI Chitham added: “I would like to reassure the public that we proactively target this type of offence and work hard to gather evidence in a lawful manner and that will stand up in court.

“I would encourage anyone with information about online grooming to contact police on 101 or Kent Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

“If you think a child is at immediate risk of harm call 999. For further information on the issue, please contact the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) by visiting www.ceop.police.uk”.