A pervert who tried to take pictures up an eight-year-old girl's skirt in Waitrose has avoided jail.

John Mitchell, 53, was spotted on CCTV bending down and putting his mobile phone under the child's dress at the Sevenoaks High Street supermarket in April.

Mitchell, of Milton Road, Dunton Green, denied outraging public decency but was convicted following a trial at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court last month.

No indecent images were found on Mitchell's phone.

At Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court yesterday he was handed a three-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

A Sexual Harm Protection Order was imposed for five years and Mitchell must participate in a 25-day rehabilitation requirement.

Mitchell, who is of previous good character, must also pay £715 in various court costs.