Video footage has captured the moment an angry mob descended on the home of a suspected paedophile who allegedly tried to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex.
The scene turned into chaos as police led the 31-year-old man from his house in Hull, where he is understood to live with his parents, into a waiting van beneath the cover of riot shields.
It is claimed the suspect became a target after word spread in the community that he had been involved in attempted child grooming.
He was driven to safety as residents hurled stones and screamed ‘paedo’ after his address was posted on Facebook.
An angry mob descended on the home of a suspected paedophile who allegedly tried to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex
People scrambled to record the scene on their mobile phones, and shout obscenities at the suspect
The man is understood to have been snared by the group calling themselves Hull’s Child Protectors, who carried out a sting and posted the video on Facebook.
However the operation wasn’t met with a warm response by everyone, with some claiming the group were inciting ‘hatred and riots’.
But others praised their actions and told them to ‘keep up the good work’.
Police officers surrounded the property in Hull around 7pm last night as dozens of locals gathered outside demanding the man’s arrest.
Furious residents chanted ‘paedo, paedo’ and allegedly broke one of the van’s windows with stones as it drove away from the scene.
The man is understood to have been snared by the group calling themselves Hull’s Child Protectors, who carried out a sting and posted the video on Facebook
Furious residents chanted ‘paedo, paedo’ and allegedly broke one of the van’s windows with stones as it drove away from the scene
Police officers surrounded the property in Hull around 7pm last night as dozens of locals gathered outside demanding the man’s arrest
According to eyewitnesses, the property has also been vandalised with smashed windows and graffiti daubed on an outside wall.
He has since been arrested in connection with an ‘ongoing investigation’, police say.
The volatile scenes were posted on social media last night and have been viewed more than 36,000 times.
Footage captured with a mobile phone shows around a dozen officers standing between the property and the mob, trying to keep the peace.
As more police cars arrive with blue lights flashing, the crowd cheer and start chanting: ‘Paedo, paedo, paedo.’
The cameraman tells officers: ‘Can’t believe you’re protecting a nonce. Have any of you got kids?’
Police order the crowd to ‘move off the road’ and usher them back.
The suspect emerges from the house crouching beneath an officer’s riot shield and a man shouts: ‘There he is, look.’
The crowd erupts with angry obscenities as he is rushed into the back of a nearby police van with blacked-out rear windows.
Officers then form a human barricade in front of the van as it makes a speedy exit.
Footage captured with a mobile phone shows around a dozen officers standing between the property and the mob, trying to keep the peace
As more police cars arrive with blue lights flashing, the crowd cheer and start chanting: ‘Paedo, paedo, paedo’
Humberside Police issued a statement last night pleading with the crowd to disperse so residents could ‘feel safe in their homes’.
A spokesman for the force said: ‘A 31-year-old Hull man has been arrested in connection with an ongoing police investigation.
‘We have an increased police presence in the area to reassure residents and would appeal for anyone with information that would help us with our enquiries to call us on 101 quoting log 553 of 29/01/2018.’