Sneinton paedophile sexually assaulted young girl as they 'spooned' on bed

He also had sexual conversations with other young females

A Nottingham paedophile sexually assaulted an underage girl as they lay on a bed together “spooning”. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Brandon Laird also befriended other young girls online and asked them to send him sexual photographs of themselves.

The 22-year-old, of Sneinton, agreed to collect one 12-year-old from her Hampshire home and told her when they got back to Nottingham he would give her “way more than cuddles”. The defendant also exchanged nearly 3,000 pages of messages with another 14-year-old girl in which he told her he “found toddlers cute and beautiful”.

And on two separate occasions when police examined his phone they found sick child abuse images on it.

Richard Thatcher, prosecuting, outlined each of the offences starting with the first one in time, from August 2020 when Laird began swapping online conversations with a 12-year-old. He said: “He referred to her as ‘beautiful’ that he ‘loved her’ and that she was ‘beautiful’ saying he did not mind the age gap. At one point she asked him if he would drive to hers in Hampshire and take her back to his. He said he would and that when they got back to his she would receive ‘way more than kisses’.”

Mr Thatcher said that the girl's mother found out about the conversations and called Hampshire police. Laird of Manor Street, was arrested and interviewed and divulged he had also been engaged in chats with a 14-year-old Lincolnshire girl and that they had exchanged sexual photographs. The prosecutor said: “At one point he said he had received images of that girl’s young cousin naked and confessed he had an interest in young children saying he found toddlers ‘cute and beautiful’.”

The next offence involved sexual messages exchanged with another 14-year-old girl including her sending him explicit photos of herself. And the final offence was reported in 2023 when the sexual assault victim came forward to report he had touched her sexually as they “spooned” on a bed together.

Laird pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child, sexual communication with three children and possession of indecent images of children. Catherine Picardo, mitigating, said her client was bullied at school, has a lower mental age than his actual one and lost contact with his father at the age of six.

She said: “He was in conversations with girls who were more akin to his age, mentally. He left school with no qualifications and did not have a peer group, friends, or girlfriends as many other teenagers manage to enjoy."

After hearing the prosecution and defence’s cases, Judge Steven Coupland said he will sentence the defendant on Monday, October 21.