DAVID COYLE JUDGED IN NEWCASTLE FOR SEXUAL GROOMING INCIDENT

In July 2017, a 27-year-old man named David Coyle, an assistant restaurant manager from Sycamore Park, Brandon, County Durham, avoided immediate jail time after being caught in a paedophile sting operation. Coyle had engaged in conversations with a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl named Ellie via the social media platform Whisper. Prosecutors explained that Coyle had been deceived by the Guardians of the North, a vigilant group that impersonates underage girls online to catch potential offenders.

Within hours of initial contact, Coyle had sent explicit and graphic sexual messages to the account he thought was Ellie, describing her as 'cute as f***' and asking her personal, sexual questions. He also requested 'naughty pictures' and inquired whether she could 'get out of school.'

When Coyle arranged to meet her in person, believing he was about to meet Ellie, he later messaged that he thought he was being 'set up' and that 'something had spooked him.' He was then apprehended by the Guardians of the North while sitting in his car nearby.

Prosecutor Richard Herrmann stated, 'They took possession from him of his mobile phone and car keys before the police were contacted.' It was also revealed that Coyle was found with condoms in his vehicle at the time of his arrest.

Coyle admitted to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. Judge Deborah Sherwin sentenced him to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered him to comply with rehabilitation and treatment programs. Additionally, he is required to adhere to a sexual harm prevention order and register as a sex offender for ten years.

In her comments, the judge noted, 'Over the course of 24 hours, matters escalated very quickly because from chatting to her, you raised all sorts of sexual possibilities of things you wanted to do to her. There was an idea to meet up. You arrived to meet her and drove to the area where you expected her to be. At the last moment, you got cold feet, no doubt because you realised you had been set up. You were stopped by those who were setting you up.' She clarified that Ellie was not a real person, but a persona created by the Guardians of the North to catch offenders. The judge emphasized that Coyle believed he was communicating with a genuine underage girl and thought the meet-up was real.

The suspended sentence allows probation services to work with Coyle to prevent future offending.