A Hindhead 'text pest' escaped a jail sentence after bombarding a 14 year-old girl with lurid messages in a bid to entice her to meet him. Paul Wright, 28, wrote an explicit letter out of the blue to the youngster at her home inviting her to indulge in various sex acts. In his offensive letter to the teenager, Wright also included his mobile phone number. The girl, thinking it may be a prank, texted him to find out who had written the letter. Once Wright got hold of her mobile number he began 'pestering' her with messages. Wright, who works in a Hindhead petrol station gave the girl a false name, continued sending messages for a number of days despite the fact that police sent him a message from her phone warning him to stop. But Wright was eventually caught after his fingerprints were discovered on the letter and he was quizzed by police. The loner from the Tyndalls Estate on Hindhead Road, pleaded guilty to two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity when he appeared at Guildford Crown Court. Lesley Bates, prosecuting, said that the girl was "shocked and embarrassed" by the letter and at first thought it was someone playing a joke. She said: "In order to establish who and why this letter was sent she repsonded to the number contained in the letter asking 'Who is this?'. "She received a reply from Mr Wright describing himself as 'Your Hunk' and asking her if she was 'up for it'. "At this point he said his name was Daniel and was a friend of her brother, but he said he didn't know him." The court was told that over a period of a few days 38 text messages were sent by Wright to the girl's mobile. Eventually the girl's father called in the police who sent a message to Wright's phone asking him to stop contacting her and informed him that the police were involved. "The response from Mr Wright was to send abusive messages. They were unpleasant and could be construed as threatening and he didn't stop contacting the girl," continued Miss Bates. The court heard the girl received messages while at school and told a teacher but later the same evening she was sent the most suggestive message by Wright. Miss Bates said: "It was clearly sexually explicit and a message that caused her considerable upset. She received more messages the following day saying he wanted to come around, causing her distress. Again the police were informed and the phone was analysed as was the letter." Wright's fingerprints were found on the letter and he was arrested and interviewed on June 26. He told officers that he did know where the girl lived but at first denied that he had sent any letter or text messages. However, Wright did tell the police that he had received a caution in the past for sending 'saucy texts' to a woman who complained and eventually confessed to the latest offences. The court heard that the girl had replied to some of the messages in a bid to find out his identity. Added Miss Bates: "As far as she was concerned he was a complete stranger. At one stage she wanted to call the number to see if she could recognise the voice but she was unable to get through to speak to him. "She refers to him asking whether it was OK if he could meet her and police told her to say yes. It would appear that the police thought the only way to identify him would be to meet." Greg Tee, defending Wright, said: "He is somebody that needs some help. He is a loner having difficulties forming relationships." Judge Michael Addison told Wright: "You sent her a really offensive letter suggesting various sexual acts and you then sent her a large number of texts, 38 in all, many of them suggesting a meeting. There were other affectionate messages and some of them were very offensive with sexual content. "You gave a false name and this girl hadn't any ideas who you were and not suprisingly she was shocked and embarrassed. "I am satisifed that the offences are so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified – the reason being that this sort of behaviour causes great offence to young girls and must be discouraged. "I also accepted that it may be that you need some assistance and guidance. What I am going to do is impose a suspended prison sentence upon you with a community order."
