Police urge caution after posters of pervert are plastered around Penwortham

Police have '˜urged restraint' after South Ribble vigilantes plastered posters of a local pervert around the town.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Mar 2018, 12:25 GMT
Updated 21st Mar 2018, 15:15 GMT
The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.
The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.

Laminated posters headlined with a ‘warning’ message were spread throughout Penwortham regarding resident Stephen Twyford, who last week was sentenced after pleading guilty to attempting to groom a child.

In February, Twyford visited Blackpool in a sting set up by paedophile hunters Action for Kids North West, where a member of the team pretending to be a 12-year-old girl.

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Twyford pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Preston Crown Court last week to 13 months imprisonment suspended for 24 months, as well as given a sexual harm prevention order for the next decade.

The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.
The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.
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Paedophile hunters lure pervert to station

Residents of Alderfield, the street that Twyford lives on, aren’t happy with him being allowed to continue to live in the neighbourhood.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “While we recognise concerns from residents, we would urge restraint about such behaviour, particularly around individuals which could be placed at serious risk of harm.

“Following investigations into the activity of such offenders, the police instigate rigorous safeguarding plans not only around the victims and their families but around the communities in which they live.

The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.
The posters that were placed on trees and lampposts around Penwortham.
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“The police and their partners also have a duty to safeguard the suspect and others they are in contact with.

“While we understand the concerns regarding the activity of convicted sex offenders and the issues they present to the community, we can assure members of the public we are committed to managing them, with our other criminal justice partners, in line with the risk that they present to the community be it online or elsewhere.”