Footage of Simon Ramsden-Smith a pervert being unmasked live on Facebook
A pervert unmasked live on Facebook walked free from court on Wednesday after a judge said he was ‘not a danger’ to the public.
Father-of-two Simon Ramsden-Smith, 54, was confronted by a gang of paedophile hunters in a sting operation, where they pretended to be an underage girl.
The group calling itself the North West Predator Hunters spent two weeks chatting to the man.
However, the defence argued there was ‘no victim’ in the case because the girls the Stockport man was chatting to were made up identities.
But the messages read out in Minshull Street Crown Court were disturbing. The prosecution said the man began chatting to what he thought was a girl of 15 in April, 2017, before sending her an image of his penis and attempting to meet up with her.
Ramsden-Smith sent messages saying: ‘Are you wearing underwear? Show it to me. How you are doing babe – would like to f..k me?’
Ramsden-Smith was confronted with the messages he had sent out when he arrived to meet a girl he had been talking with on the internet
Messages from the paedophile hunting group proved the father-of-two from Stockport, Simon Ramsden-Smith, was hoping to have sex with children
He later offered to meet a child outside Brooklands tram station near Sale, Greater Manchester to have sex – but he was confronted by the paedophile hunters as he sat in his car.
Ramsden-Smith admitted a charge of attempting to meet a child following grooming and was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years, and was ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register for seven years.
Footage of last April’s sting which got almost 90,000 hits showed him repeating: ‘I’ve been an idiot’ as he was branded a ‘filthy animal’ by onlookers. It is thought Ramsden-Smith was in contact with up to three youngsters, unaware all of them were undercover investigators
North West Predator Hunters filmed the moment they caught a paedophile who was sending images of his penis to what he thought was young girls
Former airport baggage handler Ramsden-Smith, of Stockport, was subsequently locked up for his safety to await trial but at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester he was freed with a three year community rehabilitation order after a judge ruled he was ‘not a dangerous offender.’
The North West Predator Hunters caught out the paedophile
The judge Mr Recorder Michael Murray told him: ‘This offence involved explicit dialogue where you sent explicit photos of yourself and the situation of grooming transversed to the telephone where you arranged to meet.
‘You attempted to meet this girl intending to have some form of sexual contact with her but it became clear who she was when you were confronted by the group responsible for the material. Your encounter was filmed and put onto Facebook. The police became involved and you were arrested and interviewed.
‘You said you knew what you were doing was wrong, you had spoken to a number of girls underage before and this was a sexual fantasy for you.
‘You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity which is credit to you. You are genuinely remorseful for what had happened in this case. You have no previous convictions. You were remanded in custody following your appearance at the magistrates court and you have remained there. You have already served a two month sentence.
Police arrived and arrested the father-of-two who was chatting to men pretending to be young girls
‘For a man of no previous convictions, the experience of being in custody for the first time ever for a short period of time is already a significant punishment. There was no victim in this case. If there were, you would have faced immediate custody. This was part of a sting operation.
‘Immediate custody is not appropriate – I am convinced you are ashamed of what you have done. You are not a dangerous offender. It is not in the public’s interest for you to have immediate custody.
‘The punishment would have been more, but there was no victim in this case.’
In mitigation defence lawyer Adrian Palmer said: ‘There was no victim in this case. The impact on the defendant of his own offending has been substantial. He was in employment – he is extremely remorseful and ashamed of his actions.’
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