A 40-YEAR-OLD man has been remanded in custody at Jedburgh Sheriff Court after he admitted attempting to communicate indecently with a 12-year-old girl.

Ashley Bell approached his intended victim on the Instagram messaging service, before switching the conversation to Snapchat – where messages delete themselves once they have been read.

Despite being told she was getting ready for school and looking forward to her 13th birthday, the court heard Bell instigated conversations about sex toys, breasts and “spent quite a bit of time” boasting about the size of his manhood.

It later emerged the person Bell had been communicating with was in fact an undercover police officer and their chat had been recorded.

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Bell admitted intentionally, and for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification, or of humiliating, distressing or alarming a person he believed was a child under the age of 13, sending messages of a sexual nature to her over social media.

Bell, described as a prisoner in Edinburgh, committed the offence at an address in Lovel Court, Hawick, and elsewhere, between March 6 and 15.

Sentence was deferred on Bell until July 31 for background reports, including guidance on post-release supervision

Sheriff Douglas Keir warned him he is likely to receive a custodial sentence, in addition to being the subject of the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act.