A MOTHER reported her son to the police after she found messages of him inciting underage girls in sexual activity on her mobile phone.

Elaine Kingston called the force after she found the indecent messages from her son Stephen Trinder.

Trinder sent ‘explicit, sexual messages’ to five girls over Facebook – the youngest girl aged 13 – between October 25, 2016, and January 3.

The 22-year-old of Windmill Road, Headington, started talking to the girls, asked their age and then sent various messages of a sexual nature to them, Oxford Crown Court heard on Thursday.

Sentencing him to a total of 12 months imprisonment, Judge Maria Lamb said his mother should be ‘commended’ for her actions, adding it was something no mother would want to do. She said: “She (Ms Kingston) acted to safeguard others.”

Trinder said he was ‘really angry’ at his mother at first, but added he fully understood how she felt.

Prosecutor Merril Hughes said Trinder had gone to stay with his mother over the Christmas period for six days.

She added: “He used his mother’s phone and when he left Ms Kingston’s address, a message popped up on her phone when she was accessing Facebook.”

Ms Hughes said the message said words to the effect of ‘I’ll f***ing kill you, leave her alone, she’s only 14’

She added: “She found a list of message conversations to females. She realised they were from her son’s Facebook account on reading them.”

Ms Hughes told the court the defendant, aged 21 at the time, had asked intimate questions and sent messages of a sexual nature.

She said: “The defendant’s mother was shocked by what she saw and she contacted the police and handed over her phone them.”

Trinder was then arrested and two of his own phones were seized.

Ms Hughes told the court that when arrested Trinder said he didn’t have ‘anything with underage girls’ on his phone.

She added he sent some messages ‘while stoned’.

Alexandra Bull, defending, said there were ‘elements of immaturity which certainly had an impact on his behaviour’.

She added though the messages were ‘explicit’, ‘specifically there was no physical contact’.

The court heard that Trinder was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at 14, and suffered from feelings of loneliness and depression.

Ms Bull added: “He has used cannabis at significant levels. He puts a lot of blame on the cannabis.

“He is a young man who is thinking things through and he says he wants to help people.”

Trinder pleaded guilty to six counts of attempting to incite a child in sexual activity and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

Judge Lamb told Trinder: “You have got a problem and you need help.

“This sort of behaviour is very serious.”