14 sex offenders snared by undercover cops & paedophile hunters online. Top row, left to right: Mark Best; Mark Priest; Said Mezour and Timothy Newberry. Middle row, left to right: Jared Lamb; Lee Haughton; Darrel Kettleborough and Andrew Bowes. Third row left to right: Luke Pryor; Gary Hutton; Carl Grice and Ivor Dodd. Bottom row, left to right: Martin Dawes and Abdu Omarplaceholder image
14 sex offenders snared by undercover cops & paedophile hunters online. Top row, left to right: Mark Best; Mark Priest; Said Mezour and Timothy Newberry. Middle row, left to right: Jared Lamb; Lee Haughton; Darrel Kettleborough and Andrew Bowes. Third row left to right: Luke Pryor; Gary Hutton; Carl Grice and Ivor Dodd. Bottom row, left to right: Martin Dawes and Abdu Omar | SYP/Adobe

Faces of 14 South Yorkshire sex offenders snared by paedophile hunters and undercover cops

These 14 men believed they were communicating sexually with children, or with the parents of kids they hoped to abuse

By Sarah Marshall

Crime and court reporter

Published 25th May 2026, 05:41 GMT
Updated 25th Jul 2026, 05:13 GMT

All of these sex offenders have been convicted of crimes committed online.

Each of them believed they were communicating sexually with children, or with the parents of youngsters they hoped to abuse.

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But, in reality, the people behind the online accounts were adults, either from police forces or paedophile hunter groups, all of whom had set out to catch sex offenders in the act.

And catch them out they did, resulting in these 14 men receiving prison terms, ranging from 12 months to 10 years.

The sentences were passed down during Sheffield Crown Court hearings held between 2022 and 2026.

You can read more detailed court reports by following the links below:

Moroccan national Said Mezour was subject to unsuccessful asylum proceedings when he embarked on the vile, sexual communication with a decoy account. Despite being told on more than one occasion that “Sophie” was just 13, Mezour persisted in the sexual contact, sending her videos of himself carrying out a sex act, along with pornography, Sheffield Crown Court heard. Mezour urged “Sophie” to respond to his videos in kind, and to recreate what was being depicted in the pornography he sent. Mark Bates, prosecuting, said police were informed of Mezour’s conduct when the so-called paedophile hunter group behind the decoy account called 101 to say they were standing with him, and had evidence including various pictures and videos to pass on to them. Mezour was subsequently arrested, and in his police interview, accepted “communicating sexually with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl,” Mr Bates told a hearing held on March 19, 2026. After being arrested in August 2021, Mezour, of no fixed abode, was released under investigation and subsequently fled the country, settling in Ireland for some time. Mezour was eventually charged with the offence of an adult attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child - which he admitted to at an earlier hearing - when he returned to the United Kingdom. Jailing Mezour, aged 34, for 12 months, Judge Michael Slater said he believed his decision to travel to Ireland amounted to an “entirely determined attempt to flee the jurisdiction, which led to a significant delay in proceedings.”

5. Said Mezour: Face of man snared by paedophile hunter group who fled UK after sending videos to "girl"

Moroccan national Said Mezour was subject to unsuccessful asylum proceedings when he embarked on the vile, sexual communication with a decoy account. Despite being told on more than one occasion that “Sophie” was just 13, Mezour persisted in the sexual contact, sending her videos of himself carrying out a sex act, along with pornography, Sheffield Crown Court heard. Mezour urged “Sophie” to respond to his videos in kind, and to recreate what was being depicted in the pornography he sent. Mark Bates, prosecuting, said police were informed of Mezour’s conduct when the so-called paedophile hunter group behind the decoy account called 101 to say they were standing with him, and had evidence including various pictures and videos to pass on to them. Mezour was subsequently arrested, and in his police interview, accepted “communicating sexually with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl,” Mr Bates told a hearing held on March 19, 2026. After being arrested in August 2021, Mezour, of no fixed abode, was released under investigation and subsequently fled the country, settling in Ireland for some time. Mezour was eventually charged with the offence of an adult attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child - which he admitted to at an earlier hearing - when he returned to the United Kingdom. Jailing Mezour, aged 34, for 12 months, Judge Michael Slater said he believed his decision to travel to Ireland amounted to an “entirely determined attempt to flee the jurisdiction, which led to a significant delay in proceedings.” | SYP

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Luke Pryor is now back behind bars after an online “vigilante” paedophile hunter group behind the Facebook profile of a 14-year-old “girl” helped to expose his continued sexual interest in young girls. In a communication initiated by Pryor in October 2025 after he sent a friend request, Pryor sent naked pictures of himself to the profile, which used the name “Emily.” Pryor also sent videos showing him committing a lewd act, and made repeated requests for her to respond in kind and send pictures of herself wearing “less and less clothing,” Sheffield Crown Court heard during hearings held on November 26 and 27, 2025. Sending Pryor to begin a three-year prison sentence, Judge Peter Hampton told him: “Mr Pryor, I have to conclude that you are a determined sex offender that seeks out children to satisfy your own perverted sexual desires. Pryor, aged 29, was first convicted of engaging in sexual communication in 2020 when he received a community order for three counts of that offence, along with three counts of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act. He was also made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), restricting his use of the internet and prohibiting him from having contact with children, during the same hearing. Then in 2022, Pryor breached his SHPO to commit almost identical offences, encouraging sexual activity from and involving, an account he believed belonged to a 13-year-old girl, but was in fact being run by a paedophile hunter group called Defending the Innocent. He received a two-year prison sentence for that set of offences.

6. Luke Pryor: Caught out by paedophile hunters twice in three years

Luke Pryor is now back behind bars after an online “vigilante” paedophile hunter group behind the Facebook profile of a 14-year-old “girl” helped to expose his continued sexual interest in young girls. In a communication initiated by Pryor in October 2025 after he sent a friend request, Pryor sent naked pictures of himself to the profile, which used the name “Emily.” Pryor also sent videos showing him committing a lewd act, and made repeated requests for her to respond in kind and send pictures of herself wearing “less and less clothing,” Sheffield Crown Court heard during hearings held on November 26 and 27, 2025. Sending Pryor to begin a three-year prison sentence, Judge Peter Hampton told him: “Mr Pryor, I have to conclude that you are a determined sex offender that seeks out children to satisfy your own perverted sexual desires. Pryor, aged 29, was first convicted of engaging in sexual communication in 2020 when he received a community order for three counts of that offence, along with three counts of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act. He was also made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), restricting his use of the internet and prohibiting him from having contact with children, during the same hearing. Then in 2022, Pryor breached his SHPO to commit almost identical offences, encouraging sexual activity from and involving, an account he believed belonged to a 13-year-old girl, but was in fact being run by a paedophile hunter group called Defending the Innocent. He received a two-year prison sentence for that set of offences. | SYP

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A paramedic discussed his sickening plans to groom and sexually abuse three young girls, one of whom was just six-years-old, after meeting their mothers on a swingers’ dating site. As he sent 59-year-old Gary Hutton to begin a prison sentence, Judge David Dixon said he was satisfied the discussions were not just fantasies - as Hutton had later claimed - and that he would have carried out the plans had he been given the opportunity. A Sheffield Crown Court hearing on November 18, 2025, heard how one of the three women Hutton discussed the sexual abuse with was an undercover police officer, whilst the other two are believed to have been real women with children. In the case of all three women, Hutton struck up online communications with them after meeting them through an online swingers’ dating site, aimed at people interested in swapping sexual partners, and initiated conversations by asking them what their kinks were, and if they were interested in breaking “taboos.” Hutton, who qualified as a paramedic in 2013, also told the women he had previously been asked to “educate” the 13-year-old daughter of a couple he had been speaking to online through sexual abuse, but they subsequently backed out. Nicola Quinney, prosecuting, said the undercover officer told Hutton that her daughter was six-years-old, while the two “real” women said their daughters were aged seven and 12. During the conversations with the undercover officer, Hutton proceeded to talk about the graphic sexual things he wanted to do to. Jailing Hutton for 10 years, Judge Dixon said he believed the former paramedic posed such a danger to the public that an extended licence period of five years - bringing his total sentence to one of 15 years - was necessary.

7. Gary Hutton: Paramedic planned to groom and sexually abuse kids as young as six

A paramedic discussed his sickening plans to groom and sexually abuse three young girls, one of whom was just six-years-old, after meeting their mothers on a swingers’ dating site. As he sent 59-year-old Gary Hutton to begin a prison sentence, Judge David Dixon said he was satisfied the discussions were not just fantasies - as Hutton had later claimed - and that he would have carried out the plans had he been given the opportunity. A Sheffield Crown Court hearing on November 18, 2025, heard how one of the three women Hutton discussed the sexual abuse with was an undercover police officer, whilst the other two are believed to have been real women with children. In the case of all three women, Hutton struck up online communications with them after meeting them through an online swingers’ dating site, aimed at people interested in swapping sexual partners, and initiated conversations by asking them what their kinks were, and if they were interested in breaking “taboos.” Hutton, who qualified as a paramedic in 2013, also told the women he had previously been asked to “educate” the 13-year-old daughter of a couple he had been speaking to online through sexual abuse, but they subsequently backed out. Nicola Quinney, prosecuting, said the undercover officer told Hutton that her daughter was six-years-old, while the two “real” women said their daughters were aged seven and 12. During the conversations with the undercover officer, Hutton proceeded to talk about the graphic sexual things he wanted to do to. Jailing Hutton for 10 years, Judge Dixon said he believed the former paramedic posed such a danger to the public that an extended licence period of five years - bringing his total sentence to one of 15 years - was necessary. | SYP

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After police arrested Jared Lamb at Endcliffe Park at the conclusion of an undercover sting operation by South Yorkshire Police’s Internet Sexual Offences Team, the 46-year-old was found with a bottle of lubrication, a bottle of Bio-Oil, a laptop, mobile phone and a packet of jelly beans. Prosecutor, Aaron Dinnes told the court that Lamb had planned to use the sweets to make the girl ‘feel at ease,’ while the purpose of the laptop was to show her pornography, as part of his intended campaign to ‘normalise’ the sexual acts he hoped to subject her to. Lamb revealed his sick abuse plan to a man using the name ‘Tom’ with whom he had been communicating online, and the person he believed was the father of the girl he intended to abuse. ‘Tom’ was, in fact, an undercover police officer, and the girl did not exist, Sheffield Crown Court was told during a hearing held on November 1, 2024. Following his arrest, Lamb was charged with two counts of attempting to arrange/ facilitate the commission of child sex offence, and three counts of distributing an indecent photograph/ pseudo-photograph of a child, all of which he pleaded guilty to at an earlier hearing. Jailing Lamb, The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, described the case as ‘one of the worst of its kind’ and branded Lamb a ‘thoroughly wicked individual’. Handing Lamb an 11-year sentence, comprising five years’ imprisonment and a six year extended licence, Judge Richardson told him: “I’ve come to the conclusion that severe punishment is demanded in this case.”

8. Jared Lamb: Jailed after detailing his plans to "train" & sexually abuse child

After police arrested Jared Lamb at Endcliffe Park at the conclusion of an undercover sting operation by South Yorkshire Police’s Internet Sexual Offences Team, the 46-year-old was found with a bottle of lubrication, a bottle of Bio-Oil, a laptop, mobile phone and a packet of jelly beans. Prosecutor, Aaron Dinnes told the court that Lamb had planned to use the sweets to make the girl ‘feel at ease,’ while the purpose of the laptop was to show her pornography, as part of his intended campaign to ‘normalise’ the sexual acts he hoped to subject her to. Lamb revealed his sick abuse plan to a man using the name ‘Tom’ with whom he had been communicating online, and the person he believed was the father of the girl he intended to abuse. ‘Tom’ was, in fact, an undercover police officer, and the girl did not exist, Sheffield Crown Court was told during a hearing held on November 1, 2024. Following his arrest, Lamb was charged with two counts of attempting to arrange/ facilitate the commission of child sex offence, and three counts of distributing an indecent photograph/ pseudo-photograph of a child, all of which he pleaded guilty to at an earlier hearing. Jailing Lamb, The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, described the case as ‘one of the worst of its kind’ and branded Lamb a ‘thoroughly wicked individual’. Handing Lamb an 11-year sentence, comprising five years’ imprisonment and a six year extended licence, Judge Richardson told him: “I’ve come to the conclusion that severe punishment is demanded in this case.” | SYP

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