Alan Hall, Express, January 13, 2017

But when the Algerian man, 34, returned for what he thought would be an erotic rendezvous he was seized by police who lay in wait for him.

Detectives praised the “quick thinking and courage” of the schoolgirl aged 13 who was approached and grabbed by the six foot tall man at Wolfsburg railway station on Saturday.

He dragged her into a darkened corner of the station and began to molest her.

The girl told newspaper Bild; “He held a hand over my mouth and spoke in English. He said I should be quiet and not struggle. He tried to kiss me and to grope me.

The girl, who had two friends waiting for her outside the station, managed to break free but her attacker came after her. Then she turned to him and said: “I have to go home now but I will be here at the same time tomorrow.”

The man nodded and agreed to the rendezvous. But once at home she blurted out details of her horrific experience to her parents who called police.

With numerous uniformed and plain clothes officers at various points in the station the girl returned to the station the following day in a bid to lure him into a trap.

The ploy worked and the paedophile was caught. He is now facing charges of attempted sexual assault on a minor.

Her father, 49, was watching his daughter the whole time.

“She played the decoy,” he said.

“It took about five minutes, until the police intervened with two civilian investigators and two uniformed officers.”

Police said that they had only dealt with one previous case of a foreign “lover boy” preying on an underaged girl at the station some six years previously.