Thugs banned from ‘paedophile hunting’ for two years by sheriff

A GANG of online paedophile hunters who attacked an internet troll have been banned from carrying out any more vigilante stings for the next two years.

Four members of the Wolf Pack Hunters UK (WPH) group tracked down their victim Stewart McInroy to a bus station in Edinburgh before punching and butting him in the face.

The gang targeted and attacked McInroy after they claimed he had sent sexual threats to them.

McInroy sent the vigilante group disgusting Facebook messages regarding the sexual abuse of children.

Now WPH group members Karen Ferry, 48, Martin Kuciak, 38, and 41-year-old William Brown have all been banned from taking part in any vigilante activities for the next 24 months.

All three appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing after previously pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to various offences in connection with the attack on McInroy.

Ferry, from Mayfield, Midlothian, and Kuciak, from Drylaw, Edinburgh were both placed on supervision for two years.

They were also told to carry out 150 and 180 hours of unpaid work respectively.

Brown, from Stranraer, Wigtownshire, was also placed on supervision for two years and told that he cannot leave his home address between 7pm and 7am for the next four months.

Sheriff Robert Weir also placed a conduct requirement on all three banning them from participating in any WPH activity.

A fourth member of the gang, teenager Jay Sharkey, from Glasgow, had his sentence deferred to next week.

Another member, Gordon Buchan, 39, of Glasgow, had his

‘Dragged him from the bus station’

not guilty pleas to abduction and assault charges accepted by the Crown at the last hearing.

Previously the court heard how McInroy had sent the group abusive online messages for around two years before they eventually tracked him down to Edinburgh bus station last September.

Kuciak and Sharkey, 18, grabbed hold of McInroy and dragged him from the bus station before the teenager repeatedly punched his victim’s face.

Brown also arrived on the scene in his car.

He proceeded to head-butt McInroy in the face during the violent confrontation.

Ferry helped the gang to surround McInroy while recording the meeting on her phone and live streaming it to the Wolf Pack Hunters UK Facebook page.

McInroy, 28 was left covered in blood and with facial injuries following the attack at the capital’s bus station on September 27 last year.

Ferry pleaded guilty to conducting herself in a disorderly manner by surrounding McInroy, making derogatory remarks towards him and filming the incident on her mobile phone. Kuciak pleaded guilty to abduction and Sharkey admitted to the abduction and assault of McInroy.

Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting the victim by butting him to the head.

Members of the Wolf Pack Hunters UK group set up fake children’s profiles online in an effort to make contact with paedophiles looking to meet up with youngsters for sexual activity.

Conversations are held online before meetings are then set up with alleged sexual offenders and the confrontations are filmed and live streamed to the group’s Facebook page.

The information collected is passed to the police.

There is no suggestion that McInroy was involved in any child abuse activities.