Paedo grandad slashes his personal throat exterior UK police station as sting group stream it

WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: Stephen McLoughlin, 59, from Kirkby was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of child grooming offences – a video of the incident outside Merseyside Police station was shared online

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A sex offender who knifed himself in the neck after being exposed by an online group has pledged to never own a computer again.

Stephen McLoughlin, 59, sent sexually explicit messages to two online accounts he thought belonged to two schoolgirls, “Maddie and Summer”, who were aged 13 and 12 respectively. However, the truth was that McLoughlin, of Pitsmead Road in Kirkby, had been communicating for several months with a group calling themselves TFN, an acronym for Travelled From Nottingham.

The case attracted remarkable online attention when footage of McLoughlin was streamed online by the group and captured the grandfather-of-two producing a knife and stabbing himself in the neck outside a Merseyside Police station on August 26, 2022. McLoughlin, who insisted he was messaging the account simply as “a joke”, was found guilty of a string of child sexual offences after a trial at Bolton Crown Court in February this year.

Returning to the same court for sentencing on Thursday, the sex offender was warned by the judge: “There is no doubt how far you were willing to go with this ‘child’ if you had the opportunity to do so.” The viral footage of McLoughlin outside Kirkby police station captured the confronted man reaching into his vehicle and retrieving a knife before slashing it across his throat.

While still gripping the blade, McLoughlin was struck to the side of the head before crumpling to the ground. The person filming declared “get an ambulance, he’s cut his throat” as McLoughlin’s cries could be heard before the shocking video concluded.

The court was told that between April and August 2022 McLoughlin, “a married man with a family, a butcher by trade and a man of previous good character”, had engaged in a series of online exchanges with “two individuals, who he believed, because of their online profiles, to be schoolgirls”.

The court heard he initially made contact with the profile he thought was 13-year-old “Maddie” on April 17 and rapidly made the conversation highly inappropriate. McLoughlin told the “girl” how beautiful she was, the court heard, before the dialogue became sexually explicit, reports the Liverpool Echo.

He subsequently sent her indecent images of him performing a sex act. The ECHO has opted not to include the nature of most of the messages McLoughlin sent.

The court heard there were also persistent discussions about meeting “Maddie” face-to-face. Judge Jeremy Lasker told McLoughlin: “Your assertion that you had not suggested meeting up was proved to be demonstrably false. The evidence shows that you were constantly suggesting that you should meet up.” The court was told of a message from McLoughlin asking “should we have sex if we meet up?” The offender also cautioned “Maddie” that if her mum saw the messages, he would end up in prison and needed to be careful. The court heard there were “clear elements of grooming”, with McLoughlin purchasing gifts.

He also interacted with a second account, believed to be “12-year-old Summer”, which Judge Lasker said exacerbated his crimes regarding the “Maddie” profile account. Messages to “Summer” included sexually explicit images, the court was informed.

In reality, McLoughlin was communicating with TFN, described by the judge as “a group who identify other internet users who may have a sexual interest in underage children with the purpose of exposing them to the police”.

McLoughlin was found guilty after a six-day trial of attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming; trying to cause or engage a girl aged 13-15 in sexual activity and two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child. He was also convicted of possession of a bladed article in a public place, with prosecutor Callum Stevens informing the court there were “unfortunate circumstances in how this offence arose”.

Defending, Suzanne Payne told the court that her client had the blade with “the intention to harm himself and not others”. She added McLoughlin viewed it as “the only way out for him and his family”.

Ms Payne informed the court that McLoughlin, who had no prior convictions, was dismissed from his position as a butcher at a major company following his arrest in August 2022. She explained that since then he had become the main carer for his 20 year old daughter, looking after her while his wife went to work. “This has had a significant impact on her,” said Ms Payne.

She continued: “While on bail he did not go out of the house, did not socialise, did not answer the door. He was reluctant to even go into the back garden because of concern for the safety of his family since his name and face was broadcast on the internet.”

The court was told police also had to install a “special device on his letterbox to stop petrol being poured through.” Ms Payne stated McLoughlin, who had two grandchildren under the age of five, posed no risk to his family and “social services had never been involved in his own children’s lives”.

She explained the proceedings, which had been scheduled for trial on three previous occasions, “had taken a significant toll on [McLoughlin’s] mental health and the health of his family”. She added: “He has said he will never own a computer again.”

The defence barrister revealed McLoughlin, who appeared before the court via video link from HMP Altcourse in Fazakerley, was finding prison difficult but had recently begun to utilise the education and therapy available. He had recently secured employment in the prison library but seldom left his cell due to concerns for his safety, the court was told. During sentencing, Judge Lasker addressed McLoughlin, who slouched in his seat and periodically dabbed his eyes throughout the hearing, acknowledging the “regret and shame you now face”, but noted that since the defendant had been found guilty following trial, this carried minimal weight as mitigation.

McLoughlin, who displayed grey hair and was dressed in a black top, received a four-year prison term. The judge informed him he would serve approximately 40% of the sentence before being released on licence.

McLoughlin was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. With several family members present in court to support him, he expressed gratitude to the judge upon hearing his sentence.