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A Wirral man has been jailed for more than six years after he was caught by paedophile hunters at Birkenhead Central.
As reported by the Wirral Globe, Michael Gifford, 32, of Osborne Vale, New Brighton, had been grooming what he thought was a 13-year-old girl called 'Ruby-Mae Burton' on Facebook.
However, 'Ruby' was actually a decoy from a group named Angels of Innocence.
At Liverpool Crown Court, the court heard how Gifford contacted the girl in October 2025, asking if she was single and how old she was.
He sent her an explicit photo and asked her to send him intimate images, writing "you send me pics, and we'll meet tomorrow".
The decoy arranged to meet Gifford at Birkenhead Central the next evening at around 6 pm.
Prosecutor Robert Dudley told the court: "The defendant arrived at the station at about 6:20 pm and there were members of Angels of Innocence outside the front of the station, in the lobby and on the platform.
"As he was about to walk down the steps to the platform, the defendant was heard to shout 'I'm here' before they detained him and police were contacted."
On the same day he contacted the first decoy, another 'girl', who this time was 12 years old with the name of Holly Mills. Funnily enough, the 'girl' was a member of another paedophile hunter group called Stop UK.
A similar pattern followed. Gifford sent the profile a friend request on 25 October. He called her "so beautiful" and sent yet another explicit picture of his private area. He even attempted to ask her for intimate photos and tried to video call her. He tried to arrange a meeting with the 'girl' at Liverpool Lime Street station.
Gifford was afterwards interviewed by police and denied the offences. He reportedly tried to blame his brother, and said it was him on the phone.
Andrew McInnes, defending, said Gifford suffered from poor mental health and had a strained upbringing. He had been in foster care, was estranged from his father, struggled at school due to ADHD, and suffers from epilepsy.
"Because of his isolation and loneliness and disinhibited by alcohol he's gone and used the internet and found himself committing these very serious offences," Mr McInnes said. "It seems now the penny has dropped and he sees this as a watershed moment."
Sentencing him, Recorder Eric Lamb said: "But for the fact the 13-year-old child did not exist, you would have been involved with penetrative sex with that child and on the same day you had a similar conversation on the internet with another decoy who you believed to be a 12-year-old girl and again you were sending pictures of yourself and requesting images from that child."
Gifford pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, three counts of attempting to engage a child in sexual activity, and arranging sexual activity with a child.
Gifford was sentenced to six years and four months in prison. He will be subjected to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He must also sign the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely.
