A young Workington man wept openly as a Carlisle Crown Court judge jailed him for having illegal sexual contact with a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

Despite knowing how young the girl was, Joshua Sibbald, who was 19 at the time, began a sexual ‘relationship’ with the teenager that went on for weeks. The girl would lie to her mum so she could meet him, the court heard.

The truth finally came out when the teenagers’s mother checked her child’s phone messages, and discovered she was talking to friends about her ‘sex life’.

Judge Michael Hayton QC told Sibbald that even though he appeared to have a genuine affection for the girl, his contact with her had been motivated by his desire to achieve sexual gratification.

The defendant, now 21, of Salterbeck Drive, Workington, whose barrister described him as “immature”, admitted eight counts of sexual activity with a child.

Tim Evans, prosecuting, outlined how Sibbald first contacted the girl in September, 2018. “She was 14 at the time and made no secret of that,” said Mr Evans.

“There were sexualised messages which passed between them,” said the barrister.

This initial contact through Facebook soon progressed to actual meetings, with the girl telling her mother that she was going out to meet friends, when she was in fact visiting Sibbald. In her text messages, the girl had referred to him by a false name.

Judith McCullough, for Sibbald, said his behaviour was more akin to that of a teenager. “This is not the kind of predator case we see all too often,” said the barrister.

Miss McCullough cited the 990 text messages between the the two, referring to “their love for one another”.

But Judge Michael Hayton QC said there were elements of “grooming” and “blackmail” in the offences admitted by Sibbald.

“This was not a child-like infatuation,” said the judge, pointing out that the communication between Sibbald and the girl was "heavily sexualised”.

The judge accepted it was not a case where a much older man had preyed upon a much younger girl but he noted there was an element of “controlling behaviour” from Sibbald, who threatened to kill himself if she left him.

The judge told the defendant: “In my judgement, the whole purpose of you making contact with her, and, more significantly, pursuing contact with her, was to further your sexual gratification needs.”

As well as imposing an immediate three year jail term, the judge imposed a five year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and put Sibbald on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

After the case, Detective Constable Leanza van der Westhuizen said: “Sibbald is a dangerous man who groomed his victim, and threatened to harm himself if his victim didn’t continue to see him. He was very manipulative and lied about knowing his victim’s age, adamant they were of age.”

She praised the girl’s courage and the way she helped the investigation.

The officer added: “It’s important that people are vigilant when speaking with people online. There are people, like Sibbald, who seek to exploit young people.

"It is also important for parents to make sure they know who their children are talking to online.”