AN ENGINEER who boasted about having a Mercedes and thought he was asking two young girls for naked photos has avoided jail.

Barry McBride was instead chatting on Facebook to 'decoys' posing as the teenagers in a bid to catch paedophiles.

The 42-year-old pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to asking for indecent pictures of an older child.

READ MORE: Crime gang member jailed after police seized £1.6m of cocaine during East Kilbride raid

McBride was put under supervision and the sex offenders register for three years at sentencing.

The decoys from a vigilante group created Facebook profile accounts for Lydia Harvey-Wilson and Stevie-Jay Whitt.

Prosecutor Christopher McKnight stated: “Lydia received a Facebook message from McBride on July 27, 2020, she accepted this, and McBride began a conversation with her.”

“Lydia informed him of her age and he said ‘kinda jailbait lol'.

"They continued to converse and Lydia asked for a picture of him.”

“He sent a picture himself topless with visible tattoos and then asked Lydia if he could send a naked picture of herself.

"She refused and asked him to send a photo, which he did."

READ MORE: Man jailed after assaulting Glasgow Tesco security guard over price of shopping

The conversation stopped when McBride deleted her from Facebook.

Mr. Knight continued: “He then friend requested another 14-year-old Stevie-Jay.

"They began a conversation and she informed him of her age and called her ‘jailbait’.

"He sent her the same image (he had Lydia) and requested a picture.”

“She told him she was embarrassed.

"He told her about his children and that he drove a Mercedes and offered to go and get her from England if she wanted to see him.”

The decoy team informed the police and McBride, of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, was identified through screenshots the decoys had got.

Keith Tuck, defending, said: “He’s had difficulty with drinking to excess and his mental health is not the best.”

Sheriff Johanna Johnston QC told him: “You have accepted responsibility for this. Parliament has put laws in place to protect these children."