A MAN who cares full-time for his disabled wife has been given a suspended jail sentence for picking up a teenage runaway and offering her money for sex.

Ronald Clayton, aged 62, of Barrett Avenue, Kearsley, pulled up alongside the 14-year-old girl and asked her for directions to Little Lever.

Denise Fitzpatrick, prosecuting, told Bolton Corwn Court that Clayton was in Little Lever when he approached the girl on February 1, 2012.

The girl thought Clayton was a taxi driver and got into his car after he offered her a lift.

Ms Fitzpatrick said: “While she was in the car he asked her what her name was and asked for her phone number. She was frightened he might lock her in.

He asked whether she was 16. She said she was 14. He asked her if she liked sex and whether she needed any money. When she asked ‘why’ he told her if she helped him he could help her with money.”

The court heard yesterday how Clayton then asked the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, for sex or to perform a sex act on him.

She got out of the car and Clayton told her he would ring her.

Several days later he made 27 phone calls to her between February 4 and 7, 2012.

When he was arrested he said he thought it was in relation to an incident with a young prostitute he had paid.

Clayton denied inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, but was convicted by a jury following a five-day trial.

He was sentenced to 18 months in jail, suspended for two years.

Philip Parry, defending, said Clayton, who had no previous convictions, is the full-time carer for his ill wife.

Judge Timothy Clayson, sentencing, said: “Why did you commit this offence? It seems to me it’s come about as a result of a combination of factors in your personal life.

“You are the full-time carer for your seriously disabled wife.

“I believe this conviction will be a real deterrent to you.”

The sentence includes a two-year supervision requirement, and Clayton was also told to comply with a sexual offences prevention order for five years.