A SEX offender's efforts to find boys on the internet he could use for his perverted urges has been foiled by an undercover detective.

Glen Battensby, 62, believed he was about to meet a 12-year-old boy and take him away to have sexual activity with him as he waited outside Morrison's Acomb supermarket with a Haribo pack and chocolates, York Crown Court heard.

He didn’t know the person he had promised the sweets for in return for sexual favours was a police officer posing as a schoolboy on the internet.

He was arrested at the meeting place he had set up and on his phone detectives found details of the meeting he had set up a few days earlier in Harrogate for sexual activity with someone claiming to be a 15-year-old boy.

Battensby, a former long-serving Leeds club DJ, of Parsons Green, Wetherby, pleaded guilty to two charges each of attempting to meet a child for sexual activity, sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to perform a sex act.

All the offences were committed between February 27 and March 13.

He was jailed for three and a half years.

He was also put on the sex offenders register and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and barred from working with children, all for life.

“Your intention and your behaviour shows to me a worrying degree of persistence over these two weeks,” said Judge Simon Hickey.

His barrister Susannah Proctor said: “He is deeply ashamed of his conduct. He has, in his own words, ruined his life by his offending.”

Battensby suffered from severe depression and had tried to kill himself.

She handed in references from people whom Battensby had helped as a volunteer.

Detective Sergeant Steve Alderson, of North Yorkshire Police’s online abuse and exploitation team said: “Glen Battensby clearly posed a danger to young and vulnerable people, therefore it is very pleasing that the investigation into his deplorable online activities has resulted in a significant custodial sentence.

"He will also be subject to stringent controls for the rest of his life to ensure he does not reoffend in the future.”

After the case, North Yorkshire Police issued a list of places and contacts for people who believe they are being exploited online or being contacted by paedophiles or sex offenders:

North Yorkshire Police on 101. If you are in immediate danger, always dial 999 for an emergency response

Crimestoppers – 0800 55511 – www.crimestoppers-uk.org – anonymous reporting

Child Exploitation Online Protection command (CEOP) - http://ceop.police.uk/

Internet Watch Foundation - https://www.iwf.org.uk/

Marie Collins Foundation - www.mariecollinsfoundation.org.uk – support for children and young people who have been abused via the internet and mobile technologies

Stop it Now! – www.stopitnow.org.uk – Helpline 0808 1000 900 – confidential help and support for people who concerned about their or someone else’s thoughts and behaviour towards children

Victims who would prefer not to go direct to the police and are not in immediate danger, can contact Bridge House, North Yorkshire’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), on 0330 223 0362, email bridgehouse.sarc@nhs.net or go to www.bridgehousesarc.org/

They can also contact the Supporting Victims Unit direct at www.supportingvictims.org or call 01609 643100

NSPCC Helplines: Anyone concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline for advice on 0808 8005000; Adult victims of non-recent sexual abuse can also get in touch for support; Childline is available for young people on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk