Paedo ‘hunters’ can continue
CROWN COURT JUDGEMENT ON ‘DARK JUSTICE’ GROUP POSING AS CHILDREN ONLINE TO SNARE PERVERTS
Paedophile hunters can continue to pose as children to catch perverts looking for sex with children online after a landmark court ruling.
An ongoing legal battle could have seen any evidence gathered by ‘vigilante’ groups, which have soared in number across the UK, banned from the courts.
Legal teams acting for two men allegedly snared by Dark Justice, an undercover organisation whose activities have already led to 42 convictions, claimed prosecutions using evidence gathered by such groups “diminished the integrity of the court process”.
Defence lawyers argued that Dark Justice should be subject to regulation, to prevent the law from being “evaded” and that any evidence gathered by them should not be used in court.
The defence teams claimed the cases against the two men, who are accused of turning up to meet who they thought were children before being confronted by Dark Justice, should be dropped due to the way the evidence against them was gathered.
If a judge ruled that evidence gathered by Dark Justice was not admissible in court on those grounds, similar cases across the country would have collapsed.
In a detailed judgement given at Newcastle Crown Court, Mr Justice Langstaff said there was no legal requirement for the activities by the group to be subjected to controls.
The judge said the defence team’s argument that evidence gathered by Dark Justice should be governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), which public bodies are bound by, was rejected.
Justice Langstaff said Dark Justice were acting as private individuals, not public authorities, and had not been asked by the police to conduct their activities.
The judge said: “The police have neither expressly nor implicitly authorised members of Dark Justice to act as covert human intelligence sources, nor invited them expressly or implicitly to do so.
“The members of Dark Justice have acted as private citizens throughout.”
Justice Langstaff said arguments around entrapment in relation such groups should be dealt with on a case to case basis.
A number of similar cases which had been put on hold until the judge’s decision will now continue through the court process.
Speaking after the ruling, Dark Justice said: “We do this because we are concerned citizens who worry about the future of our children.”