A BAR manager escaped an immediate prison sentence after admitting trying to persuade underage girls to perform sex acts, during separate internet chats.

Darren Michael Thompson faced a potential sentence of up to three years after admitting three counts of attempting to incite girls to engage in sexual activity, at a previous hearing.

The 31-year-old, of Dorset Crescent, Moorside, Consett, returned to Durham Crown Court with the threat of an immediate custodial sentence hanging over him.

But after the court heard that he has no previous convictions and is willing to undergo sex offender treatment work in the community,, he was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He must undergo a 30-day probation-supervised rehabilitation requirement, to include a group sex offender treatment programme.

The court heard he came to the attention of police as part of an investigation into the activities of another man, who was posing as a teenage girl on the internet, attempting to blackmail people with whom he was in contact.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said police visited Thompson’s home last August and removed a large amount of computer equipment.

Mr Baker said examination of one computer revealed he contacted “various females under the age of 16,” via Skype.

These included 13-year-old girls in Wales, and “abroad”, plus a 15-year-old in the Philippines who he asked to view losing her virginity with her boyfriend.

Mr Baker said the computer examiner also revealed Thompson previously used teenage chat sites, and while it was not suggested there was any form of sexual activity, it did confirm, “an interest in that direction”.

A theme of many of his meessages ere queries whether the girls had web cameras, although none confirmed it.

Thompson told police he never knowingly contacted any female under 16, and, if he had suspicions he would have ended the chat.

Lorraine Mustard, in mitigation, told the court Thompson has already taken steps to “address his issues” of his own volition.

She said he would socialise after his bar shifts and would then spend time on the computer, “perhaps explaining how his thinking process was distorted.”

Passing sentence, Recorder Anton Lodge made Thompson subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, for an unlimited period, while he must register as a sex offender for ten years.