A sleazy shopkeeper targeted a young schoolgirl by giving her vodka and cash and begged her to marry him.
Vinit Kotadiya told the 13-year-old girl he loved her and showered her with gifts when he was working behind the counter at the Lifestyle Express store in Tranent, East Lothian. Kotadiya, 23, swapped social media details with the youngster and began sending her indecent messages online in the grooming attempt last year.
The creep was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and told to carry out unpaid work when he appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing on Tuesday 20. Solicitor Jennifer Cameron, defending, said her client was initially told the girl was 16 but after a week of messaging each other she had told him her true age.
