A plant operator who messaged on Facebook that he would get a sex assault charge dropped if he was paid £100,000 has been spared an immediate jail sentence.

John Toth, 35, had been drinking and was in a highly emotional state when he acted “out of sheer madness,” Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Toth, of Toller Lane, Bradford, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice on December 20 last year.

Prosecutor Imran Khan said Toth contacted the brother of a man in custody on suspicion of sexual assault and offered to influence the case for £100,000.

When he was arrested, on January 17, Toth told the police: “I knew this was going to happen. I only spoke to him once or twice.”

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Mr Khan said the sexual assault allegation, involving a woman, was still under investigation.

Toth’s solicitor advocate, Tom Rushbrooke, said: “He had been drinking and accepts that he did something out of sheer madness.”

Mr Rushbrooke said Toth had no intention of accepting any money.

“It was done because of the mood he was in and the upset he felt,” he told the court.

“He is deeply ashamed and sorry.”

Judge David Hatton QC sentenced Toth to 21 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work and £120 costs. He said the incriminating words were written “large and clear” on Facebook. But it was a very sad case and Toth was a hard working man with good references.

“I am confident that you are remorseful and that you are dismayed and disgusted by your behaviour,” Judge Hatton said.