A judge described a half-naked paedophile who exposed himself to an eight-year-old girl in Hereford as a "vile menace."

Douglas Nivison, already a convicted sex offender, drove through a residential area in his Jaguar and offered to show the girl a magic trick before exposing himself, causing her to fear she was about to be abducted.

The 62-year-old, from Gloucester, was spared jail when he was sentenced for exposure at Worcester Crown Court on November 22. Instead, he was ordered to complete a sex offender's course.

Nivison approached the girl in a close in Hereford on August 13 at around 10.55am, winding down his car window to ask her for directions. The girl could clearly see into the vehicle and saw Nivison was wearing a black-and-white striped T-shirt that stopped at the waist. He wore nothing from the waist down.

The girl described how she could see his genitals. Nivison told her to "come closer" but she declined, fearing what he may do. He then offered her a magic trick, waving his private parts about in front of her. The girl, fearing she was going to be dragged into the vehicle, ran away.

Nivison has a history of offending dating back to the 1980s.

Recorder David Mason QC said, "I accept from what I read, disgusting as this behaviour is, it was never going to go further than what actually did happen. He's a vile menace but he's not worse than that."

He sentenced Nivison to a two-year community order to include 60 rehabilitation activity requirement days and an accredited sex offender's treatment programme. A sexual harm prevention order was imposed, prohibiting Nivison from having unsupervised contact with children under 16, taking up work with children under 16 without permission, and requiring him to have the prior consent of the parent or guardian for any contact, with the express permission of social services.

Nivison was also ordered to pay £200 towards the £340 costs requested by the prosecution.