A SEXUAL predator who groomed a vulnerable 14-year-old girl has been spared jail, because a judge said there was no point sitting in a cell for four months.

Liam Ward first targeted the teenager on New Year’s Eve last year when he approached her from behind and slapped her bottom, Manchester Crown Court heard.

But his behaviour got worse on January 15 when he messaged her, starting off by asking for a "cute" picture of her, the court was told.

Prosecutor Michael Lavery said that after the teenager sent this he moved it in a more sexual direction by asking for a picture of her topless before they exchanged sexually explicit messages.

Ward, 20, went out of the way to cover his tracks by asking her to delete the content from her phone and by doing the same on his device, the court heard.

Mr Lavery said the next day at school the girl told her friends, who informed teachers before the police were brought in.

Police later arrested and he confessed to his conduct when interviewed. He admitted five sexual grooming charges.

Mr Lavery added: "There is a victim impact statement from her (the girl's) mother. When she found out she found it really hard to come to terms with. It says ‘I felt I had failed as a mother and felt I hadn’t protected her.’

The teen had also made a statement from which Mr Lavery added: "She self harms to deal with it. She took herself to a bridge with the intention of jumping off it. She wasn’t able to list a single positive thing about her.”

The court heard she has encountered other problems earlier in life.

Representing Ward, of Coniston Avenue, Little Hulton, Michael Goldwater said his client had no relevant previous convictions and was only aged 20.

Mr Goldwater added: "This was a single episode, this type of offending usually happens over weeks or months.”

Ward had quit a decorating apprenticeship but planned to resume vocational education, he added.

Passing sentence, Judge Hilary Manley imposed an eight-month suspended prison term with a >>>> curfew. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

Judge Manley said: "She was a vulnerable teenager and her problems, she has been set back considerably.”

But the judge told him if he jailed he would "spend the time sitting in a cell doing nothing much at all".

Ward must complete 120 hours community service and attend the Horizon programme, a sex offenders course, to address his issues.