A TEACHER from Bromsgrove has been fired from his job, after he repeatedly asked a 13-year-old girl, played by a vigilante 'paedophile hunter', to send him intimate pictures of herself online.

Timothy Lloyd, of Bewell Head, was arrested after a mob shouting 'paedophile' turned up at his former home in Coventry, where his wife and children lay in bed.

The 32-year-old was dismissed from Our Lady of the Assumption School in Tile Hill this morning, following a disciplinary hearing.

Headteacher Kate Connelly said: “Today the Governors’ Disciplinary Panel met for the deciding hearing of Mr Lloyd’s case and concluded that an act of gross misconduct has taken place and therefore he has been dismissed with immediate effect.

“The safety and wellbeing of our pupils is our primary concern, and our strong Catholic ethos and culture of care ensures we will always act promptly and effectively to keep our school environment safe and happy.

“We have strict safeguarding procedures in place and should any concern be raised we will take immediate and appropriate action.”

The disgraced primary school teacher avoided jail when he appeared at Warwick Crown Court on Friday, after pleading guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

The court heard how the 32-year-old, using the pseudonym Mark Franklin, accepted a 'group request' in July to join a girl called Crystal in an online chat room.

Crystal, who was actually a member of the 'Lady Godiva Hunters', told Lloyd she was a 13-year-old, whose mother worked nights as a nurse, sometimes leaving her home alone.

Prosecutor Angus Robertson said: "A few days later the defendant provided Crystal with his mobile number, and over the ensuing four months or so, online conversations were carried out between them.

“She regularly referred to the fact that she was 13 and went to school, and she later said she had just had her birthday and was now 14.

"Later in the conversation the defendant repeatedly asked for photographs.”

'Crystal' sent Lloyd a picture of an unknown girl's face with bare shoulders, to which Lloyd responded with photographs of his genitals and bottom.

On Sunday, October 15, just after 11pm, members of the Lady Godiva Hunters turned up at Lloyd’s family home in Tile Hill.

Police were called and arrested Lloyd, who admitted communicating with ‘Crystal', claiming he believed from her profile picture that she was 15 or 16.

Prosecutor Angus Robertson said: "He said he liked to have sexual conversations with others as a fantasy, but not for sexual gratification, and he agreed Crystal had told him she was 13 and then 14 years of age."

David Mason, defending, said: "To send him to prison for a relatively short period of time would be utterly pointless, when there is a more constructive alternative.

"His career is ruined because of this aberration earlier this year. That is the end of it, and quite rightly so.”

He said that Lloyd had been undergoing therapy to address his problem, and is now living apart from his family with his parents in Bromsgrove.

Judge Andrew Lockhart said: "There was no one called Crystal, so Crystal could never have been harmed. This is a case of, at most, potential harm, had Crystal been a real person.”

In sentencing, he told Lloyd: "You have chosen a life in the teaching profession, and you have learned about the safeguarding of children.

“But in the summer of this year you, with all of that, decided to go onto a chat room and, with a false name, you communicated with a person you thought was a 13-year-old female.

“You repeatedly asked for photographs, and sent a photograph of your genitals.

“You were arrested, and you were not entirely open about your motives. I am sure you were doing it for some form of sexual excitement.

“I have given this case some anxious consideration. I am just able to say in this case that I can shrink back from a custodial sentence. But if you breach this order, I reserve any breach to myself.”

Lloyd was given a three-year community order and ordered to take part in a sex offender’s programme and rehabilitation activity.

He was ordered to pay £425 costs, register as a sex offender for 15 years, and has been subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.