A paedophile accused of ejaculating in Pizza Hut during a sexual exchange with an under-age girl has been jailed.
Hugh Reid waved farewell to family and friends from the dock this afternoon at Harrow Crown Court after being sentenced to two years in prison for his involvement in a relationship with a girl who cannot be named for legal reasons.
It began in 2007 when Reid, 45, began using online chat room MSN Messenger to talk to the girl, who was 14 years old at the time.
In May that year, the couple met for a double date at Vue Cinema in Park Royal, and what followed was a relationship spanning years involving oral and penetrative sex.
Reid, of Christchurch Road, Colliers Wood, south-west London, was 38 at the time of initially striking up the relationship with the girl, who is now in her final year of university.
In October, Reid pleaded guilty to engaging in penetrative sexual activity with the girl inside a car parked in Harrow.
He also admitted sexually touching her in a Nando's restaurant in Leisure Way, Finchley.
The girl had not reported the consensual relationship to police until years after the relationship had come to an end, when during a What's App conversation he told her that his wife had given birth.
The court heard that the girl, acting out of concern for the new born, then alerted officers.
Addressing Reid's defence, Judge Houlder said: "When he admitted the offence, he said 'I just let it happen'.
"He speaks as if it was some kind of out of body experience. He did not stop himself from meeting and engaging in sexual activity.
"The power lies with the older man. His duty is to stop her from falling into this situation."
The prosecution agreed to have two charges, including having phone sex while in Pizza Hut and ejaculating, to lie on file.
Louise Sweet, for Reid, told Judge Houlder that during the relationship Reid was still reeling from the break-up of his first marriage, when he married a woman and moved to Peru to be with her, only to be told in no uncertain terms that 'she only married him for his passport'.
She added: "You can only imagine how that must feel. Are we dealing with a predator here? My argument is that we are not.
"The motivation came from a crisis in confidence, not from an interest in children."
Reid, who works in IT for supermarket Sainsbury's, was sentenced to two years in prison of which he will serve one, and ordered to pay £5,000 to the girl in compensation.
