A WOMAN who was confronted by a 'paedophile hunters' group has been given a suspended sentence after attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Gemma Anne Hicks, 34, who now lives in England, was living in Montgomery at the time of the offence.

She was sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court, having been due to stand trial in December before changing her plea to guilty.

Andrew Green, prosecuting, said the offence dated back to the period between Christmas 2018 and January 2019 when Hicks engaged in an online chat with someone she believed to be a 13 year-old girl but was actually an adult.

A false Facebook profile had been set up which received a friend request from Hicks, with the page making very clear that it was for a 13 year-old.

During the chat Hicks replied "age is just a number" and steered the conversation very quickly towards sex.

The chat continued on and off with the adult decoy who, with a number of associates, then went to confront Hicks at her address in Montgomery.

The police were also informed and when questioned, Hicks said she had no memory of sending messages of that nature. Police seized her iPhone but she refused to provide them with the PIN.

But Facebook provided the police with IP address data which matched Hicks' address.

Henry Hills, defending, said an extensive pre-sentence report addressed all Hicks' relevant issues.

He said: "You gain a picture of Gemma Hicks as an extremely confused and damaged individual.

"The court will rightly be concerned about the risks she presents."

He added: "A term of immediate custody would do little to to address that risk, whereas there is the prospect of rehabilitation here."

Judge Nicola Jones, acknowledged that Hicks had been confronted by "a self-styled paedophile hunters group", described the offence as "extremely disturbing and troubling", and drew back from sending her to immediate custody.

She said that although the custody threshold had "clearly been crossed", the priority was rehabilitation to address and prevent such behaviour from Hicks in the future.

Instead she was given an 18 month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Hicks was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to last for 10 years, and the phone and SIM seized by police was ordered to be destroyed.