'˜Sexual predator hunters' vowing further Northern Ireland activity despite death

A leading child protection specialist has "deep concerns" over the methods used by online 'sexual predator hunters'.

A group of 'sexual predator hunters' has vowed to continue confronting suspects in Northern Ireland '“ despite the apparent suicide of a man in Co Antrim on Tuesday.

The 50-year-old was the subject of a doorstep encounter with ‘Silent Justice’ at his home in the Ballymena area on Sunday night.

An hour long video of the confrontation was posted online but later removed.

A spokesman representing Silent Justice said the footage was withdrawn in response to a request from the dead man’s family.

The secretive grouping has been mainly active in England since it was formed in March, but claims to have carried out 21 similar “citizen’s arrest” UK-wide operations already.

Police have confirmed they are investigating the sudden death of a man who was arrested on Sunday and later released on police bail pending further enquiries.

“At this stage the death is not being treated as suspicious,” a PSNI spokesman said.

A member of Silent Justice who asked to be identified as Gary Shields (not his real name) said they created Facebook profiles of fictitious 11 to 14-year-olds, and then engage with any adults who make sexual advances towards the dormant accounts – recording the details for an evidence dossier which is then handed over to the police.

He claimed they do not initiate contact with anyone.

In a statement, Mr Shields said his group existed to “create public awareness and to help parents protect their own children against these people,” and added: “We are in no way responsible for [name withheld] death (if that is the case).”

Speaking to the News Letter on Thursday, he claimed their method of using dormant accounts meant they could not be accused of “entrapment”.

He said: “I have a lot of decoys – people who pose as children as I do myself – and we are probably talking to 500 people across the UK and Ireland who are grooming, between us.

“We are all in it for different reasons – some people in our teams have been groomed and some have been abused. We have had a lot of people locked up and we have a lot of people on remand at the minute,” Mr Shields claimed.

“We are not vigilantes – we are child protection enforcers. All of my teams are polite. We are not out to humiliate these people, bully these people or call them names.