Mohammed Iqbal (pictured) drove from Luton, Bedfordshire to Farnham, Surrey to meet what he thought was a girl, 14

A paedophile drove 70 miles from his home in Luton to meet a 14-year-old virgin for sex, only to be snared by a vigilante sting.

Mohammed Iqbal was confronted by Shane Brannigan, who revealed that Iqbal had actually been speaking to a middle-aged woman.

As a result of the 'sting', Iqbal was convicted of a charge of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

As the jury of nine men and three women returned their verdict, Iqbal shouted 'Not f*****g true'.

Judge Nigel Lithman QC remanded Iqbal, a 32-year-old IT worker, of previous good character, in custody for sentencing on June 2.

The judge told him: 'I am requesting a report with all options open, but be prepared to be sent to custody.'

During a four-day trial at Luton Crown Court, the jury heard how, Iqbal, began visiting a dating chatroom called 'Waplog' in June of last year.

On the evening of July 10, he began an online conversation with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl called Tia.

However, Tia was a middle-aged woman named Tracey Reid living in the North East of England who, the jury was told, was engaged in exposing paedophiles online.

She had set up a fake profile under the name of 'Tia0014', which showed a photo of a young teenage girl she had permission to use.

Reid told the court she used the profile to flush out paedophiles.

The trial heard how Iqbal, having learned 'Tia' was a 14-year-old schoolgirl, at first spoke about school and going to university.

He told her his name was Mo and soon he was talking about relationships, asking her 'Would you get into a relationship with someone older?'

Over the next few days Iqbal, whose photo was on his profile page, sexualised his communications by talking about sex acts and sending her a photo of his penis.

Four days after their first 'chat' online, Iqbal arranged to meet the girl the following evening. In his last online conversation with her, he had spoken about them having sex when they met.

The message came back from Tia0014 telling him to drive to a spot beside Farnham Railway Station in Surrey. He told Tia he would be in his black Astra car.

The jury heard Tracey Reid frequently worked with Shane Brannigan and had chosen the railway station as a location to confront Iqbal.

Giving evidence, Mr Brannigan told the court 'We set up fake profiles on social media sites and pose as children to weed out men and women who are willing to chat to children online and meet them for their own sexual gratification.'

Iqbal was confronted by vigilantes after parking his car in The Fairfields, opposite Farnham railway station (pictured middle)

He described himself as a 'Child Protection Enforcer' and said he was part of a group called 'Not of Normal Criminal Element' which set out to expose paedophiles using the Internet to meet children for sex.

Mr Brannigan said prior to him going to confront Iqbal, Tracey Reid had sent the chat logs of her online communication with Iqbal.

He said he had trained her in the work they were undertaking and wanted to ensure Iqbal had not been been 'encouraged' by 'Tia' or was the victim of any possible entrapment.

Mr Brannigan said he had the details of Iqbal's car as well as his photograph and, on the evening of July 15 last year, spotted the vehicle in The Fairfield, a side road near Farnham Railway Station.

The court heard Mr Brannigan had a body camera strapped to his chest and, on reaching the defendant's car, opened the passenger door and got in beside him.

He said he told Iqbal 'You are here to meet Tia who you believe to be an underage child for sex.' He got very angry and said something about it being a sick joke and he had been set up.'

Mr Brannigan said Iqbal got out of the car and was clearly very angry, flailing him arms about.

He said after walking away from his vehicle, Iqbal returned to it and then got back in and drove away at speed.

The court was told the police had been called but didn't get there in time to stop the defendant leaving the scene that night and he was eventually arrested last September.

In the witness box he said he had not set up the profile Moonwalker007 or used the dating app Waplog.

He said someone must have obtained his details and his photo from his Facebook page to set up the profile and he said he had never contacted anyone using the profile name Tia0014.

He agreed he had driven to the spot in Farnham that evening because he had gone to meet someone who was selling tickets over the Gumtree site for matches between England and Pakistan.

Iqbal claimed he had bought seven tickets for £600 while parked up in the road, where Mr Brannigan confronted him shortly afterwards.

He said he had been frightened by Mr Brannigan and drove away from the scene.