Lee Hunt, 57, was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday after being convicted of two counts of attempted sexual communication with a child. Prosecutor Peter Hussey told Judge Simon Berkson that Hunt had already been remanded in custody for just short of three months after a breach of bail.
Hunt, of Princes Road in Ellesmere Port, was sent to the crown court by District Judge Ian Barnes last month. The offences took place in October, 2024, when he contacted two girls under the age of 16 on Facebook messenger and gave them his address for a meet up at his property in Ellesmere Port.
Judge Simon Berkson
Hussey said the girls were decoys used by a paedophile hunter group with false names, and that the group later called police, who arrested Hunt at his house. Berkson told the court, "He was sent for sentence by the magistrates for two counts of attempted sexual communication."
He also said, "They were attempts with decoys and he was of previous good character and his pre-sentence report shows he has some vulnerabilities." In the same hearing, he said the sentence would be a suspended sentence as recommended by probation in the pre-sentence report.
Chester Crown Court
Berkson ordered Hunt to complete 20 rehabilitation days and 100 hours of unpaid work. He also told Hunt, "Do not let any more young girls into your flat again!" The court hearing leaves Hunt facing the prison term alongside those requirements, after the breach of bail had already kept him in custody.
That sequence matters for anyone following the case in New Brighton or Ellesmere Port: the prison term was imposed at the end of the hearing, but the court also attached non-custodial requirements and referred to a suspended sentence before the final order. For readers, the practical point is that the sentence did not end with the prison term alone; the work and rehabilitation obligations remain part of the disposal.
