Paedophile-hunting group catch sex offender trying to meet boy, 14, at Birmingham train station

A paedophile-hunting group have helped catch a convicted sex offender trying to meet a boy, 14, at a train station in Birmingham.A member of the vigilante group set up a fake profile on a gay dating app, posing as a 14-year-old boy, prosecutors at Birmingham Crown Court said.

On 24 September last year, the 'decoy' profile started to receive messages from Simon Burrin.

In the first exchange the 'teenager' told the defendant his age and that he was "checking the app out" but the defendant responded by asking him for his phone number and saying his name was Burrin.The conversations then moved on to Whatsapp with Burrin sending naked pictures of himself to the decoy.

During the conversations, the defendant said he would like to undress the teenager and suggested they could meet and stay at a hotel in Winchester.Burrin also suggested he could come and stay with him at his home, said that he had a double bed and arranged to meet on the morning of October 23 at Gravelly Hill train station.

Joshua Purser, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said the defendant told the '14-year-old' to tell anyone who asked that he was his nephew and to tell his mum he was staying with a friend.

When he arrived at the station he was confronted by a member of the group and then arrested. When police searched his home they found a phone which had not been registered with his sex offender manager.Burrin was interviewed and said that it was "wrong to speak to kids again" and that he needed help.

The court heard that he had a number of previous convictions and in June 2020 was sentenced to two years and four months after he had allowed a 14-year-old boy, he had met on a gay dating site, to stay with him.Burrin, 42, of Court Lane, Erdington, who had previously admitted attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a child and breach of a sexual harm prevention order, was jailed for four years and eight months.Judge Simon Drew KC said: "It seems to me that your principle purpose of making contact with that child was to engage in sexual activity."

He described his behaviour as "extremely dangerous" and extended the period he would remain on licence by four years.Amrisha Parathalingam, defending, said: "He wants to address this sort of behaviour. His biggest problem is the internet."