Known paedophile Sean Nicholson, of Lowes Road, Blackpool, has been jailed once again, this time for three and a half years after trying to book a hotel room for himself and what he thought was a 12 year old girl. The schoolgirl was in fact an undercover police officer who was posing as a 12-year-old girl – who went under the name ‘Izzy’.

Already a known sex offender, Nicholson, had  previously been jailed for 36 months in 2019 after being caught with more than 19,000 indecent images on his devices.

On his release Nicholson was handed a sexual harm prevention order and told to comply with notifications. During this week’s trial, Preston Crown Court heard that in April last year, Nicholson breached these orders when he went online and struck up a conversation in a chat room called Chat IW with a undercover police office posing as a 12-year-old girl, ‘Izzy’.

Prosecuting, Emma Kehoe said when officers went to carry out checks at the 53-year-old’s Blackpool home in July they found a Samsung mobile phone and a tablet, and within these devices they uncovered the conversations with ‘Izzy’.

Miss Kehoe said, ‘She identified herself as being 12-years-old from the beginning but he carried on speaking to her. He then moved on to Snapchat and began using a different name, he also shared a photo of someone he said was him but the resemblance was nothing like him.

The conversations then moved to WhatsApp and it was through here he began to ask ‘Izzy’ about the size of her breasts and then moved the conversation on to one of a sexual nature and what might happen if they met. He said he was prepared to book a room for them and suggested they would engage in sexual activity.’

Sharon Watson, defending, said Nicholson accepted he had a ‘deviant, unnatural sexual interest in children’ of around the age ‘Izzy’ claimed to be. She added the defendant now risked losing his home as a result of his convictions and has a number of health issues which are difficult to manage in prison.

Sentencing Nicholson, who appeared to be crying on the video link from HMP Preston, Judge Guy Mathieson said: ‘’I know you are distressed and I know from your personal circumstances you are extremely worried about what might happen to you, particularly your flat and the like. Ms Watson has said to me that you acknowledge who or what you are, which is in fact an unrepentant paedophile.

You revelled in contact with this person and I have absolutely no doubt you thought it was a child and you wanted it to be a child and you wanted to discuss the fantasies you had for a child. This is something that’s deeply ingrained in you.’

The judge said said Nicholson’s concern was not for his victims but for the mess he had made of his own life. He sentenced him to 18 months for attempted sexual communication and two years for breach of a sexual harm prevention order, totalling three and a half years in custody.

Below is a Police photograph of the convicted Nicholson.