Woman’s cruel ‘Fred West’ prank saw ex-partner hounded by paedophile hunters ‘to teach him a lesson’

A Hull woman hacked into her ex-boyfriend’s Facebook account, arranged to meet a 14-year-old for sex and then alerted a paedophile vigilante group in a bizarre revenge plot.

Amy Gray, 37, of Great Thornton Street, said she was angry that her ex had left her for another woman and in November 2018 decided to teach him a lesson.

Gray – who had helped the man set up a Facebook profile – used his passwords to log on and message a 14-year-old girl that was later revealed to be a decoy set up by a paedophile vigilante group.

Hull Crown Court heard on Monday that Gray – pretending to be her ex-boyfriend – arranged to meet the underage girl on Newland Avenue for sex.

Ben Thomas, prosecuting, told the court she had also used her ex-partner’s new girlfriend’s name, claiming they wanted the girl to take part in a “threesome.”

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In an interview with police, Gray told officers it would be a “bonus” for her love rival to get into trouble too.

“Predator’s Exposed,” the group behind the decoy, then made their way to Newland Avenue expecting to catch Gray’s ex-partner, who is in fact already on the Sex Offender’s Register.

Mr Thomas told the court: “Of course no one turned up to meet them so they went to his house as his address had been given in some of the messages.”

The man answered the door to see six members of the group who had travelled to confront him.

Newland Avenue (Image: Jon Corken/Hull Live)

They were filming the video and posting it live onto Facebook.

During the interception the man was called a “dirty, vile piece of s***”, a “jelly bellied b******” and even Fred West.

His new partner was also apprehended by the group and told she could not answer her mobile phone. The woman’s concerned mother had found out through her niece that her daughter was being live streamed on Predator’s Exposed’s Facebook page and was trying to get hold of her.

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Humberside Police were called and the couple were taken into custody, detained for 12 hours and interviewed.

Mr Thomas told the court that their house was searched and their phones were analysed.

However, Gray was eventually caught out when officers realised the IP address of where the messages were sent from was her address.

Her ex-partner was the subject of a tag which also showed he had not been to her house when the messages were sent, proving it was Gray behind the messages.

Mr Thomas said: “In an interview she said she wanted revenge. She knew how much the video would be shared and she wanted him in prison so he and his new partner couldn’t be together.”

In a victim personal statement the man told how he and his partner had been forced to move away from Hull, have been shouted at in the street and even had their home doused in graffiti.

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The woman said she did not leave her home on her own for nine months.

The court heard how Gray has a previous conviction for three offences of sexual assault, for which she was convicted in 2005.

However, her barrister, Amber Hobson, told the court these took place when Gray was living as a man. She transitioned into a woman a year later.

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Ms Hobson said: “She struggled with her identity most of her life and lived her life in the shadows. Perhaps that has taken a toll on her and affected her mental health. She has one previous conviction from a very different time in her life when she was living as a man. She worked with the probation service and found it very helpful.

“She says that offending was born out of confusion with her identity and not an attraction to children or women.”

Ms Hobson appealed to Judge David Tremberg, telling her Gray would struggle in prison as a transgender woman.

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She added that Gray is remorseful and that the author of a pre-sentence report had come to the conclusion that Gray is at low-risk of reoffending.

“She didn’t foresee the level of scrutiny they would be subjected to,” Ms Hobson added.

As he jailed Gray for five years for perverting the course of justice, Judge Tremberg told her: “You wanted to make him suffer and cause maximum harm and degradation to his emotional wellbeing, status and reputation. If that caused harm and distress to his girlfriend that was a bonus for you.

“You exposed them to an ordeal of public humiliation.”