TELEPHONE sex pest Stephen Bufton was caught literally in the phone box thanks to the use of sophisticated tracing equipment.

But Blackburn magistrates heard his calls to Julie Yarwood at her health and beauty clinic were far from sophisticated.

The court heard that the calls, of a sexually explicit nature, became progressively more disgusting as the married father of two became more confident.

Bufton, 42, of Sunnyside Avenue, Wilpshire, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to a charge brought under the Protection from Harassment Act and was fined £500 and ordered to pay £250 compensation and £45 costs. He was also made the subject of an order restraining him from contacting or approaching the aggrieved.

Emma Kehoe, prosecuting, said Julie Yarwood received the calls at Aphrodite Health and BeautyTherapy in East Park Road, Blackburn.

She answered a total of five calls and her husband one.

In the first call Bufton suggested that Mrs Yarwood had been a naughty girl and he wanted to smack her and kiss her better. Miss Kehoe said that subsequent calls became far more vulgar and distressing for Mrs Yarwood.

Police had arranged for a trace to be put on the calls and they were found to be coming from a phone box on the corner of Stonyhurst Road and Carlinghurst Road.

When the last call was made Mrs Yarwood contacted police, who found Bufton inside the phone box.

When interviewed, Bufton said he had seen chat line numbers advertised in newspapers and decided to ring Mrs Yarwood's number for a "cheap thrill."

Bashrat Ditta, defending, said Bufton had driven past Mrs Yarwood's shop but had never seen her and had no idea what she looked like.

"It was a spontaneous phone call that started it all off and the lady engaged him in conversation and was laughing during the first phone call," said Mr Ditta.

"He has to accept that the continuation of the calls and their content would make the lady frightened and concerned.

"There were no threats of violence. It was simply a bit of titilation on his part."

Mr Ditta said his client had never been in any kind of trouble before and felt humiliated by the whole affair.

As a result of the court proceedings his wife had suffered severe ill health and the two of them would be having discussions about where their marriage was going.

Mr Ditta said Bufton worked for East Lancashire Coachbuilders and he was concerned about how they and his workmates would react.

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