Barrow paedophile pleads guilty to string of child sex offence

A pervert who was snared by paedophile hunters has admitted trying to engage a child in sexual activity.
Ian William Strickland was confronted by online child protection team ‘Dark light’ outside his Wordsworth Street home on Monday May 21 after he had been communicating online with a girl he believed to be under 16.
The 42-year-old was remanded in custody after appearing at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court and guilty pleas to four offences were entered at Preston Crown Court today (Friday).
After Strickland was arrested and charged a brick was thrown through the downstairs window of a house in Wordsworth Street which later turned out to be an innocent resident’s home.
Paedophile hunters Dark Light, who gathered evidence against Strickland, hit out at locals who broke the window
“For those involved in smashing the windows of this house, you got the wrong house you morons,” they said in a Facebook post
Police warned members of the public against vigilante attacks and said they would seek to prosecute anyone deemed to have committed a criminal offence.
Strickland will return to Preston Crown Court on July 20 to be sentenced for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a female child under 16 following grooming, and two counts of attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity.