Heroine who trapped a monster

JoaNNe mJadzelIcS is amazing. For a start, she helped put her ex-lover, paedophile rock star Ian Watkins, behind bars. over a period of four years, she reported him to the pol ic e on fi v e occasions, worried as his sexual tastes turned darker and darker.

Yet initially she was dismissed as a nuisance by the authorities; an obsessed fan harassing a famous singer, a bitter ex-girlfriend trying to get her revenge.

Perhaps the fact that she was a former prostitute, or that her sister claimed she was mentally unstable, also worked against her. But the 39-year- old (left) did not give up, and Watkins, the former lead singer of the lostprophets, was eventually jailed for 35 years for trying to rape a baby and other horrific child sex crimes.

It seems unlikely that the authorities would have reached a conviction without Joanne’s help. Yet while they were publicly thanking her on the courtroom steps for bringing him to j ustice, they were plotting to go after her.

They charged the mother-ofone with s even off ences, including possessing indecent images of children.

This week, a jury accepted that she was trying to entrap the rocker by inducing him to share vile images of children — as she had said all along. No one listened to Joanne, but she did not give up. She was terrified that he would carry on abusing babies and children.

For Joanne to keep on going, despite the derision f rom policemen who dismissed her fears, was incredibly brave.

‘It has been me against the world,’ she said, describing herself this week as a woman who was broken financially and emotionally. Her prosecution was outrageous. an apology is the very least she deserves.