Scott Hastings

Scott Hastings, a 43-year-old man with a prior conviction for downloading child abuse images, was jailed after attempting to meet underage girls for sexual purposes. In May 2022, Hastings contacted an undercover police officer via the Chatiw app, believing him to be a man offering access to his daughter. When asked if he merely wanted photographs, Hastings explicitly stated his desire to have sex with the girl, though her age was not discussed in the conversation. He did not follow up with this officer.

A week later, Hastings reached out to another undercover officer who posed as a paedophile with a seven-year-old daughter available for abuse. During their exchange, Hastings detailed his intentions to commit various sexual offences against the child and arranged to meet her the following weekend. However, he was arrested before the meeting could occur. Officers from Leicestershire Police identified Hastings through the first interaction and raided his home in Leicestershire, where they found additional indecent images of young girls on his phone.

Hastings, who had been subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order since his 2018 conviction for possessing illegal images, was charged with breaching this order, two counts of attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, and one count of making indecent images. He had previously received a caution in 2021 for another breach of the order. Appearing at Leicester Crown Court on 8 December 2025, having pleaded guilty to all charges, Hastings was sentenced by Judge William Harbage KC.

• The judge remarked, 'He's had his chance,' rejecting a plea from defence barrister Michelle Harding to suspend the sentence in favour of further probation supervision.
• Harding noted that Hastings remained supported by his partner regardless of the outcome.
• Judge Harbage emphasised that, although no actual child was harmed, the sentence reflected Hastings' clear intentions towards the fictitious girls.

The court extended Hastings' Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the remainder of his life to ensure ongoing monitoring by police and the Probation Service post-release. Hastings, who had since relocated to Willington Road in Etwall, Derbyshire, stood shaking in the dock as he received a custodial sentence of two years and four months.