Imran Majeed was on his way to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex when he stopped in Harlow to be greeted by two teams of ‘paedophile hunters.’


Imran Majeed was on his way to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex when he stopped in Harlow to be greeted by two teams of ‘paedophile hunters.’

In the back of his van he had blankets and a mattress, and he told an online ‘decoy’ account set up by ‘paedophile hunters’ that the pair could hug and kiss when they met.

He also asked the account, called ‘Karen,’ to send him naked photographs.

But Majeed, from Pakistan, was intercepted in a station car park outside the Toby Carvery restaurant in Harlow just three days after Christmas.

He protested his innocence on camera but later plead guilty to two serious child sex offences in court.

Today (February 25) his uncle and cousin watched on at Chelmsford Crown Court as he found out what punishment he would be handed.

The sentence handed down by the judge, however, left one of the men behind the ‘paedophile hunting sting’ “shocked.”

Majeed, 36, sent a friend request to ‘Karen’ on Facebook on October 21, 2018.

‘Karen’ was in fact a decoy account set up by Justice for the Innocent.

Majeed and ‘Karen’ began talking and the decoy told the defendant that ‘she’ was just 13-years-old, before the conversation moved onto messaging app WhatsApp.
It was made clear throughout the conversation that the ‘child’ was under the age of 16 and at school.

Majeed then began to groom Karen, and even established when they would be able to talk.

The relationship became sexual over time and the defendant shared sexual material with the decoy, including a photograph of two adults hugging topless and later a photograph of two adults performing oral sex.

This was all in the build up to meeting the ‘child’, which was scheduled for just three days after Christmas (December 28).

They were due to meet at The Galleria shopping centre in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and Majeed had “blankets and a mattress” in the back of his van.

The defendant told the decoy they could engage in hugging and kissing, but if the ‘child’ wanted penetrative sexual activity he would be “prepared to do that”.

Majeed, who is currently in the UK from Pakistan on a visa, also requested for the decoy to send naked photographs of herself to him and offered to send pictures of himself.

On the day of his arrest Majeed believed he was on the way to meet a child, which was actually a decoy created by volunteers who work to prevent children being harmed or groomed.

Members of Justice for the Innocent (JFTI) and ‘Scorpion Hunters UK’ had attempted to meet Majeed previously but he had failed to turn up.
Therefore, they set up a double decoy of an adult woman.

The defendant then stopped in a car park at Harlow Town station to meet the adult decoy.

The groups located Majeed in the car park when he approached them to ask about parking fees.

The hunters explained why they were there and about the decoy profile.

Majeed, from Austin Road in Gravesend, Kent, denied the allegations, whilst the sting was live-streamed online.

Police were called and they arrested him.

Majeed refused to comment during police interviews, however, he later admitted guilt at a plea hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on January 21 this year.
Majeed stood in the dock of the same court to hear his sentence.

On the day of his arrest Majeed believed he was on the way to meet a child, which was actually a decoy created by volunteers who work to prevent children being harmed or groomed.

Members of Justice for the Innocent (JFTI) had attempted to meet Majeed previously but he had failed to turn up.

Therefore, they set up a double decoy of an adult woman.

The defendant then stopped in a car park at Harlow Town station to meet the adult decoy.

The JFTI group located Majeed in the car park when he approached them to ask about parking fees.

The hunters explained why they were there and about the decoy profile.

Majeed, from Austin Road in Gravesend, Kent, denied the allegations, whilst the sting was live-streamed online.

Police were called and they arrested him.

Majeed refused to comment during police interviews, however, he later admitted guilt at a plea hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on January 21 this year.

Majeed stood in the dock of the same court to hear his sentence.

The hearing took an hour, with the judge rising to his chambers to think about Majeed’s sentence for 20 minutes.

Judge Gratwicke said: “Young children and young girls should be protected from people such as you from preying upon them.”

Majeed was then spared jail and handed a suspended sentence.

Following the hearing, EssexLive spoke to the ‘paedophile hunter’ group who were involved with the investigation.

James, who has been part of the volunteer group since it was created 15 months ago, said he is “shocked” at the sentence.