A ‘depraved’ mum-of-four who groomed a 13-year-old boy by taking him shopping in her BMW has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Emma Burton, 35, lavished gifts on the boy, paid for with her husband’s company credit card. She bombarded him with Snapchat messages and was arrested after a police alert was put on her car.

Boys’ underwear she had bought for the youngster, along with lingerie she had got for herself, were among newly-purchased items seized from Emma Burton’s £60,000 BMW M4 when she was pulled over by police with him in Lancashire earlier this year.

Burton had given the victim £200 to travel to the Midlands from his home in Greater Manchester by taxi. She had booked a hotel room in the Midlands where he met her in the early hours, telling reception staff he was her nephew.

The youngster rang his parents from the hotel and told them: “I love Emma, I’m going to make a life with her.”

At that time Burton, of Birkenshaw, Bradford, was on bail, having being arrested weeks earlier because of her inappropriate contact with the boy. Police were called after the boy’s horrified mother found an image on his iPad of Burton kissing him. The mother also found a video of Burton performing a sex act on herself in the shower on the device, and a receipt for £535 of items among his things.

Despite being under investigation over the images and having been served with an abduction notice designed to stop her seeing him, Burton spent the night with the boy in the Midlands.

The pair then went shopping for designer clothes and underwear in the Trafford Centre before police stopped her car in Preston, arrested her and returned him to his family.

Emma Burton, also known as Emma Price, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Monday after admitting charges of sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming, and facilitating travel for exploitation.

The sexual activity charge relates to the kiss depicted in a photo - the only sexual activity that could be proven. The boy did not help with the prosecution. Burton was supported in court by relatives including her husband.

Maria Brannan, prosecuting, told court the boy’s parents first suspected ‘something was amiss’ last year.

“Their son was coming home with expensive gifts of trainers or clothing and two iPhones, paid for by the defendant”, Miss Brannan said.

(Image: Google Maps)

Sentencing, Judge Tony Cross QC told Burton that this behaviour, and his refusal to assist police, demonstrated ‘the power’ she had over him and ‘how disturbed’ she had made him.

The judge said Burton had lavished him with gifts not only to groom him, but to buy his silence. And he said she had carried on with the behaviour despite warnings, because she believed that the boy was ‘under her spell’.

Isobel Thomas, defending, said Burton’s offending happened at a time when memories from her ‘extremely difficult’ adolescence had resurfaced, while she ‘felt distanced’ from her husband of 16 years.

“Her relationship with (the boy) began through texting”, Miss Thomas said. “She felt she was able to talk to him more easily and he made her feel good by telling her that he loved her - I say all that as background, not as an excuse. It’s really an unusual way for her to have behaved. She knows exactly how wrong her actions were, she wants to be punished for what she’s done.”

Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Joanne Andrews, of GMP’s Manchester and Salford Protect Team, said: “Despite the barriers officers faced due to Burton’s manipulative and exploitative actions, the speed of the investigation and efficiency of those investigating has ensured Burton is safely away from children and has had her freedom taken away.

“She used her financial position to emotionally and sexually abuse a teenager, convincing him they were in a loving, mature relationship. Burton and others who sexually exploit children are not concerned about that person’s emotional or physical wellbeing; they gain their trust to feed their own depraved lifestyles and desires.”