‘Paedo hunter’ thug stamped on man’s head
A THUG who boasted he was a ‘paedo hunter’ launched a sickening and unprovoked attack on an innocent man in the street, stamping on his head while shouting ‘you f***ing nonce’ – months after he slashed a man with a machete.
Jamie Forster, 21, has been locked up for 12 years – with a four-year extended licence period – following the two horrific incidents.
Police dubbed the attacks ‘random and shocking.’ Forster, a detective said, was a ‘great threat’ to the community.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that on July 13, 2019, Forster shouted at two men who were on their way to get food from a takeaway on Washway Road in Sale.
Prosecutor Michael Blakey said the men ignored him, before one of them then realised he had seen Forster before in a pub.
A friend Forster was with pulled out a blade ‘30 to 40 inches in length.’
Forster grabbed it and slashed at one of the men, who fell to the floor.
The attacked continued while the victim lay defenceless on the floor. Forster and his pal stamped on the man before running off.
The man sustained two cuts to his left hand, a fracture to his hand which needed surgery, and bruising and cuts to his face, arm and mouth.
The court heard that on September 14, 2019, Forster shouted at a man in his 50s on a canal towpath in Sale, before chasing him onto Urban Road.
He called him a ‘paedo’ before tripping him up and stamping on his head while screaming: “You f ***** g nonce.”
A horrified witness said she saw Forster stamp on the ‘motionless and defenceless’ man 10 times.
The man was left with a sunken eye socket, swelling to the right side of his face and head, and acute bleeding on the brain.
The court heard Forster boasted that he was a ‘f***ing paedo hunter’ as people rushed to help the man and acted out what he did to his victim in a ‘macabre’ manner.
The allegation levelled at the innocent man was entirely untrue.
He said in a statement: “It’s had a negative impact on my family who have to look after me at home and I feel the attack has changed me.”
Forster pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, possession of an offensive weapon, and causing grievous bodily harm.
He has previous convictions for battery and sexual assault.
Defence lawyer Paul Hodgkinson said his client had an ‘unhappy and traumatic’ childhood, but that didn’t excuse his actions.
“The defendant’s criminality started as a result of when he was placed into care by his stepfather when his mother went on holiday,” Mr Hodgkinson said.
“The probation officer found there were two sides to the defendant – one of him being in a stable positive relationship and the other side of the coin, is the negative influences such as his friends and peer group.
“In that two-month period, he had lost his grandmother who he said was the only person who showed the defendant any love during the course of his childhood.
“There was also a miscarriage that he and his partner suffered.
“This affected the defendant badly and he turned to drinking alcohol and taking drugs and he said his anger issues poured out.”
Sentencing him, Judge John Potter said: “This man posed no threat to anyone at all.
“You called him a derogatory name and tripped him up.
“He fell to the floor and as he lay on the ground you launched a quite sickening attack on him. People nearby were disgusted with the ferocity of the attack they were seeing.
“Following the attack you stayed nearby as others came to assist and you explained to them you were a ‘f***ing paedo hunter’ and acted out in a macabre manner what you had just done for effect.
“He had nothing to do with sexual offending towards children.
“This was just a gratuitous and violent attack on him and the repulsive words you used in his direction.”
Forster, of Sidmouth Road, Sale, will serve two thirds of his sentence in prison before being considered for parole.