Abdul Aziz, 38 (mugshot pictured), has been jailed for 18 months after admitting arranging to meet a '14-year-old girl' and possession of indecent images of children

A father-of-one with a 'distorted attitude towards British girls' was caught trying to meet a '14-year-old girl' for sex by paedophile hunters and jailed for 18 months.

Abdul Aziz, 38, travelled to the UK on an extended family visa this summer before messaging what he thought was a 14-year-old called Ruby.

After finding her online he asked to 'hang out and make love' and tried to meet up with her for sex.

But 'Ruby' was actually a 41-year-old female member of the paedophile hunter group Cobra UK.

He was snared by Cobra and another group called Confronted and Caught at Burnley bus station on August 26.

Aziz, of Burnley, was jailed for 18 months after admitting attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence and possessing indecent images of children at Preston Crown Court.

Prosecutor Peter Barr told the court the very first message Aziz sent to 'Ruby' was a lewd request for sex.

When she responded by saying: 'I don't know what you mean, I am only 14,' Aziz responded by saying it meant to 'hang out and make love,' he told the court.

There then followed a series of sexual messages over a four-week period on Whatsapp in which Aziz asked Ruby several questions and made suggestive remarks.

He asked the girl to send him photos of her in her bra and when she said she couldn't because her phone was broken he offered to pay to get it fixed. He also offered to pay for her to get credit on her phone.

On August 26 Aziz arranged to meet Ruby, who said she was from London, at Burnley Bus Station, Lancashire.

He said he would take her to Rochdale because 'it had nice views', the court was told.

But when he arrived he was met by members of the group Caught and Confronted, who contacted the police.

Mr Barr said police confiscated Aziz's two mobile phones. On one of them they found 18 indecent images of pre-teens.

When Aziz was asked about those he said he had been sent them by another person and he thought he had deleted them.

On August 26 Aziz arranged to meet Ruby, who said she was from London, at Burnley Bus Station, Lancashire (pictured)

But the court heard those images had been saved in the same folder on his phone as family photos.

Defending, Mohammed Nawaz said his client had only come to the UK weeks before he committed the offences on a family extended visa.

He said that was now unlikely to be extended and his client would be deported.

Mr Nawaz said: 'He has a young family. He has been excluded from living with his wife and child.

'The problems that exist in his marriage have only been exacerbated by his offending.'

Jailing Aziz for 18 months, Judge Heather Lloyd said she was concerned by probation's assessment that he posed a high risk of harm to children and vulnerable females.

Telling Aziz that it was clear he considered Ruby as an 'easy target for his sexual gratification', she added: 'It is said by the author of the pre-sentence report that your actions were planned and deliberate, born out of your distorted attitude towards British girls.'

Aziz was also made subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offenders register for the same period.