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Dark Justice (group)

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Dark Justice
Company typeOrganisation
Founded30 October 2014 (2014-10-30)
Defunct24 May 2021 (2021-05-24)
Area served
United Kingdom; mainly North East England
WebsiteOfficial Website

Dark Justice (founded on 30 October 2014)[1] were a vigilante group set up to catch paedophiles based in Newcastle upon Tyne operated by two men using the pseudonyms Scott (born 1991) and Callum (1994–2021).[2] Neither were police officers, although their tactics were similar to those sometimes used by police. [3] The duo posed online as children, normally between the ages of 11 and 15, in order to catch online child groomers. When they met a child groomer in real life, the members of Dark Justice wore bulletproof vests.[4][5] Their evidence was used in court, resulting in convictions against over 115 online groomers including Roger Lee,[6] and Barry Scott.[7] In May 2018, the Evening Chronicle reported that Dark Justice have secured over 150 arrests with over 40 of those being jailed.[8]

The two men met each other through Scott's brother. Prior to starting Dark Justice, both men worked in the digital media industry.[9]

During 2017, an anonymous businessman gave Dark Justice an office in Newcastle to serve as the group's new base of operations.[10][11][12]

Dark Justice were not paid for their work and instead received support from their families and used money that they had in savings, as well as receiving donations to their website to fund their work.[13]

In mid 2017, Dark Justice won a landmark high court judgment to continue their work and judge Brian Langstaff concluded that the members of Dark Justice had "acted as private citizens throughout".[14] Of the outcome, Dark Justice said "It could have been terrible but we are thrilled the judge has sided with us".[15]

In 2019, a landmark ruling was passed meaning that online groomers would now face the same sentence regardless of whether or not the child they attempted to meet was real. Of the ruling, Dark Justice said it was "brilliant and a great move forward within the law".[16]

In April 2021, Scott announced that Callum had died in a "tragic accident" and that the organisation would cease operating.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dark Justice – About". Facebook.
  2. ^ Kelly, Mike (19 September 2017). "Dark Justice claim they're better at catching paedophiles than the police".
  3. ^ "Dark Justice: The vigilante paedophile hunters who revel in 'football factory' stings". International Business Times UK. 9 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Internet sting paedophile jailed". BBC News. 27 March 2015.
  5. ^ "'We pretend to be teens online to catch paedophiles', TV debates, Dark Justice plus the consumer hour., The JVS Show – BBC Three Counties Radio". BBC. 5 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Paedophile caught in vigilante 'sting' after he drove 300 miles to meet 14-year-old girl". mirror. February 2015.
  7. ^ "Wallsend paedophile Barry Scott jailed after Dark Justice sting". Evening Chronicle. 31 July 2015.
  8. ^ Johnson, Ian (12 May 2018). "Dark Justice fear they may be BANNED due to other paedophile hunting vigilantes". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  9. ^ Perraudin, Frances (8 April 2017). "Judge rules 'paedophile hunters' can continue posing as children online". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  10. ^ Manzoor, Sarfraz (5 July 2015). "The new avengers". The Sunday Times.
  11. ^ Narwan, Gurpreet (20 November 2017). "On patrol with the paedophile hunters". The Times.
  12. ^ "Behind Dark Justice's crusade to bring down pedophiles". kernelmag.dailydot.com. 12 July 2015. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  13. ^ Corner, Natalie (5 April 2016). "Paedophile hunters 'Dark Justice' reveal they have helped catch 20 perverts as they are forced to defend controversial tactics". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  14. ^ Perraudin, Frances (8 April 2017). "Judge rules 'paedophile hunters' can continue posing as children online". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  15. ^ Nichol, Sara (13 April 2017). "Geordie duo Dark Justice's landmark case 'could have seen almost 100 paedophiles walking free'". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  16. ^ Johnson, Ian (20 March 2019). "Dark Justice hope thousands of paedophiles could now be jailed after this ruling". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  17. ^ Collings, Katie (24 April 2021). "Founding member of paedophile hunters Dark Justice dies in 'tragic accident', friend confirms". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
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