A MAN who left schoolgirls traumatised after exposing himself has been spared jail.

Ian Kirkland, aged 30, of Blenheim Road, Breightmet, was ordered to complete a sex-offender probation programme and banned for life from working with children.

A judge said he had intended to jail Kirkland for nine months but suspended the sentence in the hope the programme would ensure he never committed the offences again.

Bolton Crown Court heard that on January 2, Kirkland asked for the number of a 13-year-old girl he had followed in Bromley Cross, before approaching a second girl in Eldon Street, Tonge Moor. He drove his blue Citroen past her about eight times before parking in Lansdowne Close.

Joe Allman, prosecuting, said as the girl approached, Kirkland got out and exposed himself. Later that day, he drove up to a group of four 12 and 13-year-old girls. He beckoned one over and asked her for a kiss. When she walked away, another girl saw him expose himself, Police arrested Kirkland in Bromley Cross shortly after and searched his home, where they found five cannabis plants. Kirkland had also rewired his electricity supply to avoid the meter.

Initially, he denied exposing himself, but he later pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent exposure, one of producing a controlled drug and another of abstracting electricity.

Mr Allman said some of the girls were afraid to go out after the incident, others had nightmares and one would not sleep alone.

Paul Murphy, defending, said Kirkland had been sacked from his job and stigmatised by the community because of his actions.

He said Kirkland's action was a "moment of madness" and that there was no attempt at abduction and no established pattern of him being a menace to young girls.

Recorder Simon Killeen ordered Kirkland to sign the sex offender register for 10 years and warned him he faced jail if he failed to comply with the probation programme. "There is a real prospect that you might be able to address this bizarre and appalling, vile behaviour before it's too late," he added.