A PAEDOPHILE hunter who wrongly accused a gay man of grooming children online has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Andrew Cannon, of Cherrys Road, Barnsley, founded Parents Against Paedophiles - a Facebook group which confronts suspected child groomers - and received a tip-off from two parents who claimed a local man was using online gaming stream XBox Live to lure youngsters.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Cannon, 28, was given Mark Austin’s number and rang to accuse him of being a paedophile in October before publishing his identity on the Facebook page, which has more than 5,000 members.
But Cannon did not hide his phone number and was traced when Mr Austin, 54, who has a terminal lung disease, passed it on to police.
“The victim says Cannon had no right to post false information on Facebook,” prosecutor Louise Green said.
“The incident led him to have suicidal thoughts due to the allegations, which were false. He believes he will continue to be targeted.”
Cannon, who appeared at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court unrepresented on Wednesday, pleaded guilty to one charge of using social media to spread a false message which caused needless anxiety to another.
In court he said: “The group received evidence which claimed Mark Austin was using XBox Live to target youngsters. I’ve pleaded guilty because I fully admit the charge but to put things into context we did receive two tip-offs and acted on that.
“I was abused from the age of three to 15. I am now done with paedophile hunting and I’ve told the group that I want to fully concentrate on my own family.”
Deputy District Judge Zoe Passfield gave Cannon a six-week suspended prison term, which was suspended for two years, ordered him to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and pay a £115 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
He was also given a restraining order to prevent him from contacting Mr Austin, as well as a condition which forbids him from posting any comments about alleged sexual offences against children on social media.
She said: “My initial reaction was that only mandatory custody was justified. The victim was targeted with a threat made to him personally, with his details posted on social media with an inherent risk that other users could confront and physically harm him. It caused substantial distress and fear because of the decision to ‘out’ him.
“It amounted to unwarranted vigilantism and cannot be justified. Police detectives and law enforcement agencies are tasked with protecting the public and you risk this by interfering, obstructing and corrupting evidence.
“However, you have now removed yourself from the group, no longer take part and recognise you went too far. I have heard you are engaging with mental health services and intend to focus on your own family. For those reasons I am willing to suspend your service of imprisonment.
“It is clear you are very highly thought of, but your friends are under the misapprehension your actions were justified and I would like to make clear that is a misapprehension and absolutely incorrect.
“This type of behaviour is not condoned and any person who continues to engage in this way can expect to go to prison.”
Mr Austin, who told the Chronicle his name and good character was jeopardised by Cannon’s actions, said he hopes he can rebuild his life following the ordeal.
“My name has been dragged through the mud and unfortunately it often sticks. I’ve done nothing wrong and did not deserve to go through it. I’ve been left anxious, scared and feel threatened.
“What was being claimed led me to have suicidal thoughts. I’m a very ill man, I don’t know how long I have left to live and all I want to do is get past this and enjoy the time I have left.
“Paedophile-hunting groups can work well when things go right, but this case shows what happens when it goes wrong and how unfounded comments can ruin someone’s life.”
