Paedophile hunters cleared of charges
COURT: A group of self-styled paedophile hunters have vowed to carry on seeking out child abusers after a jury cleared them of all charges following stings on two men.
The defendants “overstepped the mark”, according to prosecutors, when they confronted the men in West Yorkshire.
A GROUP of self-styled paedophile hunters have vowed to carry on seeking out child abusers after a jury cleared them of all charges following stings on two men.
The defendants, who include members of a group known as Predator Exposure, “overstepped the mark”, according to prosecutors, when they confronted the men in West Yorkshire.
Jurors at Leeds Crown Court heard the two men became targets after they had taken part in online chats with group members posing as teenagers.
Six of the group went on trial accused of charges including false imprisonment and common assault.
After just over a day of deliberations, they were cleared of all charges following an eight-day trial. Shouts of “Yes!” came from the public gallery where the defendants’ friends and family sat.
Outside on the court steps, the defendants and supporters wiped away tears and exchanged hugs and high fives.
Philip Hoban, 43, who set up the group, lit a thick cigar to cheers from supporters, and said: “This is just the first start and we’ll be back hunting, very soon. Tune in people.”
The group said a full statement would be on their website later.
Jurors had heard earlier that the members detained and verbally abused two men and used unnecessary force against one, who was allegedly put in a headlock and dragged out of a shop against his will.
The defendants denied all the charges against them, claiming they were making lawful citizen’s arrests.
Hoban told the court: “I wish we did not have to do what we are doing. Unfortunately, the police do not have the resources to do what we are doing.
“I wish there was a way we could work with the police and give them the chat logs. But unfortunately, the police do not act on it straight away.”
In August 2018, four of the defendants went to a home in Normanton, West Yorkshire, to confront a man who had talked online with a Predator Exposure member posing as a 14-year-old, the court heard.
The man, who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a child and is believed to be on the autistic spectrum, was prevented from leaving his back garden. He was also stopped from going inside his home to get his medication and was left “extremely scared and upset”.
Another man was confronted by five of the defendants in the Chapel Allerton area of Leeds in January. He was chased to a nearby shop, where some of the group tried to physically drag him outside to make a citizen’s arrest, the jury heard.
Both of the men who were confronted were arrested on suspicion of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity but, while prosecutors accepted the conversations between the men and the decoys did amount to criminal offences, neither of the men was charged by West Yorkshire Police.
Hoban, from Beeston in Leeds, and his 19-year-old son Jordan McDonald, from the Farnley area of the city, were found not guilty of two counts of false imprisonment and one of common assault.
Jordan Plain, 26, from Leeds, and Dean Walls, 52, from Moortown, Leeds, were found not guilty of one count of false imprisonment and one of common assault.
Kelly Meadows, 40, from Leeds, was found not guilty of two counts of false imprisonment, and Christine James-Roberts, 60, from Headingley, Leeds, was found not guilty of one charge of false imprisonment.
This is just the first start and we’ll be back hunting, very soon. Philip Hoban, 43, who set up the paedophile hunter group.