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:

Mark Best, 57, of Baslow Road, at Totley, Sheffield, who has previous convictions for sex offences, struck up a conversation with several decoy online profiles, one of which claimed to be a 13-year-old girl. While sending explicit messages he said he could "go to prison" for what he was doing. The vigilante group eventually set him up to meet with an adult decoy and apprehended him. He was jailed for 48 months in January 2023, and deemed to be 'dangerous'. - https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/crime/sheffield-sex-offender-trapped-by-paedophile-hunters-said-he-was-glad-to-get-caught-4002272

9. Mark Best: Jailed for 48 months after communicating with "13-year-old girl"

Mark Best, 57, of Baslow Road, at Totley, Sheffield, who has previous convictions for sex offences, struck up a conversation with several decoy online profiles, one of which claimed to be a 13-year-old girl. While sending explicit messages he said he could "go to prison" for what he was doing. The vigilante group eventually set him up to meet with an adult decoy and apprehended him. He was jailed for 48 months in January 2023, and deemed to be 'dangerous'. - https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/crime/sheffield-sex-offender-trapped-by-paedophile-hunters-said-he-was-glad-to-get-caught-4002272 | SYP Photo: SYP

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Mark Priest, 39, of Haggstones Road, Sheffield, was jailed for three years and nine months at Sheffield Crown Court on May 17, 2024, for several offences. They include three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, three counts of attempting to cause a child aged under 13 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, engaging in sexual communication with a child, inciting a child to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, and inciting a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity. In each of these offences, Priest believed he was communicating with the profile of a real child online, but was in fact speaking with undercover police.

10. Mark Priest: Jailed for sexual communications with decoy children

Mark Priest, 39, of Haggstones Road, Sheffield, was jailed for three years and nine months at Sheffield Crown Court on May 17, 2024, for several offences. They include three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, three counts of attempting to cause a child aged under 13 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, engaging in sexual communication with a child, inciting a child to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, and inciting a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity. In each of these offences, Priest believed he was communicating with the profile of a real child online, but was in fact speaking with undercover police. | SYP

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Timothy Newberry, then aged 33, of Reresby Park Close, Rotherham, was convicted of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and attempting to cause a child under the age of 13 to engage in penetrative sexual activity. He also believed he was communicating with a child when he committed the offences in June 2023. He was sentenced to three years and six months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on May 20, 2024.

11. Timothy Newberry: Jailed for attempted sexual communication with a decoy child

Timothy Newberry, then aged 33, of Reresby Park Close, Rotherham, was convicted of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and attempting to cause a child under the age of 13 to engage in penetrative sexual activity. He also believed he was communicating with a child when he committed the offences in June 2023. He was sentenced to three years and six months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on May 20, 2024. | SYP

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Sheffield Crown Court heard how Lee Haughton, of Wood Street, South Hiendley, Barnsley met an undercover police officer purporting to be a single mother in an online chatroom. Mr Bailey said that despite Haughton immediately revealing he was ‘into role-playing; age-play and diapers’; he was ‘initially cautious’ and asked the officer, who was using a pseudonym, to prove she was real and not from the police. As the conversation progressed, Haughton told her he had ‘always been turned on by incest’, the court was told. The undercover officer told Haughton she shared his interests. Despite his concerns about being caught by the police, Haughton expressed his desire to abuse her baby, which he described as ‘the ultimate’ and something that had not previously been ‘accessible to him’. Mr Bailey said the pair agreed to meet in person at a café, and upon arrival, Haughton told the officer he had got there early because he was ‘eager’ and had also wanted to check the area for ‘police officers or similar’. During the meeting, Haughton formulated a plan for abusing the undercover officer’s children, and said he ‘really likes nappies’ and had ‘always been into watersports’. He was caught and arrested by police three days later, as he travelled to a location he believed to be the undercover officer’s house, carrying a bag containing sex toys. During a sentencing hearing held in February 2022, Judge David Dixon described Haughton as a ‘dangerous offender’ and handed him an extended sentence of 14 years, six years of which must be served in prison. He said he was in ‘no doubt’ Haughton would have completed the crimes against the baby.

12. Lee Haughton: Sex offender revealed plans to abuse baby to "single mum"

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Lee Haughton, of Wood Street, South Hiendley, Barnsley met an undercover police officer purporting to be a single mother in an online chatroom. Mr Bailey said that despite Haughton immediately revealing he was ‘into role-playing; age-play and diapers’; he was ‘initially cautious’ and asked the officer, who was using a pseudonym, to prove she was real and not from the police. As the conversation progressed, Haughton told her he had ‘always been turned on by incest’, the court was told. The undercover officer told Haughton she shared his interests. Despite his concerns about being caught by the police, Haughton expressed his desire to abuse her baby, which he described as ‘the ultimate’ and something that had not previously been ‘accessible to him’. Mr Bailey said the pair agreed to meet in person at a café, and upon arrival, Haughton told the officer he had got there early because he was ‘eager’ and had also wanted to check the area for ‘police officers or similar’. During the meeting, Haughton formulated a plan for abusing the undercover officer’s children, and said he ‘really likes nappies’ and had ‘always been into watersports’. He was caught and arrested by police three days later, as he travelled to a location he believed to be the undercover officer’s house, carrying a bag containing sex toys. During a sentencing hearing held in February 2022, Judge David Dixon described Haughton as a ‘dangerous offender’ and handed him an extended sentence of 14 years, six years of which must be served in prison. He said he was in ‘no doubt’ Haughton would have completed the crimes against the baby. | SYP

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