Hartlepool dad discussed meeting teenage girl in hotel after breakdown of relationship
A dad who talked sexually to a teenage girl online and discussed meeting in a hotel has been spared jail.
Father-of-three Mark Liddle sent inappropriate messages to the victim following the breakdown of his long-term relationship, including asking her for pictures of her getting out of the shower.
Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard he also tried to meet the girl in a hotel and encouraged her to bring her school uniform.
The 44-year-old warehouse worker was sentenced by magistrates after earlier pleading guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child.
Paul Doney, prosecuting, said: “At the beginning of March 2025 the victim disclosed to her mother she had been receiving inappropriate messages from the defendant in which he asked to her send a photograph of herself getting in the shower with the towel off.
“He also tried to make arrangements for her to visit but said they would have to share a hotel.”
In a phone conversation, recorded by the victim, Liddle asked if she wanted to have sex with him.
She also kept screenshots of WhatsApp messages, said Mr Doney.
He added: “It’s within these WhatsApp conversations that he discusses booking the hotel. He also tells her he sent her £100, telling her to bring her school uniform.”
Emily Pearson, mitigating, said Liddle, who had no previous convictions, fell into a “quite a deep depression” following the sudden breakdown of his marriage after more than 20 years.
She said: “He was already suffering from underlying health issues but they seem to deteriorate when the relationship broke down.
Ms Pearson added it was a “very poor error of judgement” adding: “There’s been deep shame and deep remorse in relation to his behaviour.
“He has been punishing himself ever since.”
Liddle, of Foxglove Close, Hartlepool, was received a six-month jail sentence, which was suspended for two years.
Chair of the bench David Everitt told him: “We do think it passes the custody threshold. If you come back to court with these matters again you could go to prison.”
Liddle will be on the sex offenders register for seven years and was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and 18-month community order.