Crombie had travelled, with condoms in his bag, all the way from Glasgow to Newcastle. When he arrived he was expecting to have sex with a 14-year-old who he had been chatting with online and sending explicit messages to. However the police were waiting to greet him.
Watch the moment he got arrested here:
“He was arrested as a result of the actions of voluntary group Dark Justice, who seek to expose grooming of young people on the internet, through social media, with profiles purporting to be teenage girls.”
Initially Crombie claimed that is must have been someone else who had sent pictures of an erect penis to the teenager, but he later admitted trying to groom the young girl.
Kieran O’Neill, the man defending Crombie, told the court that he was a vulnerable young man with learning difficulties. He had been living in a homeless shelter at the time of the incident.
Mr O’Neill said:
“He was a loner who had access to a computer.He had condoms with him, he was going to meet her. Whether or not he would have gone through with the offence, we will never know. He shows great remorse.”
O’Neill went on to ask the judge to suspend Crombies sentence so he could receive counselling and treatment. However, the judge said “I would be failing in my public duty if it was suspended.”
Crombie has now been put behind bars for a year and given a ten year Sexual Harm Prevention Order he must abide by.