SIMON HIRST FROM MORLEY JAILED FOR GROOMING SCHEME IN LONDON

In December 2008, a serious case of online grooming culminated in the imprisonment of Simon Hirst, a company director based in Morley. Hirst, aged 46 and residing at Observer Mews, Troy Road, was sentenced to two years in prison following a trial held at Southwark Crown Court last week.

Hirst’s criminal activity involved a disturbing attempt to groom a girl he believed to be only 13 years old, engaging in a series of online conversations over a period of four months. Unbeknownst to him, the individual he was communicating with was actually an undercover police officer posing as a young girl. Throughout these exchanges, Hirst made inappropriate comments, including one where he told her, “You look sexy for a young person,” and he also asked her to perform a sexual act, revealing his intentions clearly.

During the trial, Hirst denied three separate charges, asserting that he thought he was speaking to an adult who was role-playing as a teenager. He claimed that the language used in their conversations was typical of adult interactions and that he had no reason to suspect the girl’s true age. When questioned about his reaction upon learning she was 13, Hirst stated, “I thought she was just making it up, fantasy,” and added, “Everyone I see on there is an adult. We talk in adult fashion. There was no reason to believe she was not an adult.”

Hirst further explained that he believed he was communicating with an adult shopkeeper on a rota system, based on the timing of their chats. He admitted to arranging a meeting in London while on a business trip, during which he sent his 23-year-old girlfriend shopping so he could meet the girl secretly. He claimed he intended only to have a casual coffee meeting, expressing disbelief that the girl would actually show up, expecting instead to meet a 30-year-old shopkeeper. Hirst also remarked that he would have been shocked if a teenager had actually arrived to meet him.

Throughout their online correspondence, Hirst sent explicit emails and a photograph of himself engaged in a sexual act. His decision to meet her in London was the culmination of these interactions. The jury took just 22 minutes to find him guilty of attempting to meet a child for sexual purposes, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, and trying to cause a child to watch a sex act.

Judge Michael Gledhill sentenced Hirst to two years in prison and ordered that his name be added to the sex offenders’ register for a period of ten years, reflecting the severity of his actions and the potential risk posed to the community.