Charity hits out at convicted paedophile George Jackson who wanted to keep job as children's entertainer

George Jackson, who tried to wow the judges on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent in 2015, was caught by paedophile hunting group Dark Justice after he turned up to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl he had been talking to online.

The 71-year-old, who claimed on his profile to be 20 years younger, turned up to meet the child for "non-penetrative sexual activity" to find the group, who had alerted the police, waiting.

Jackson, of Ashgill, Albany, Washington, was sentenced to a two-year community order, with mental health treatment and rehabilitation requirements, and was made to sign the sex offenders register and abide by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

But at his sentencing hearing last week, defence barrister John Wilkinson asked if the order could be relaxed to allow him to work as a children’s entertainer.

Children’s charity NSPCC has hit out at the singer for not accepting the seriousness of his crime and said it would be inappropriate for him to work around children again.

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Jackson may not have victimised a real child in this situation, but the intent to do so was genuine.

“We hope Jackson is offered every opportunity to prevent him from re-offending and to help him understand the damage his behaviour could have done.”