Twisted couple snared by paedo hunters at rail station 'to meet 14-year-old for sex'

A twisted couple were snared by paedophile hunters after the pair turned up at a railway station believing they were meeting a 14-year-old girl for sex. Neil Tranmer and then girlfriend Kerry Burdall were confronted and detained by seven members of an online group and shipped to cops at Bridlington railway station in East Yorkshire.

The pair told what they thought was the youngster, who they met on Facebook did not even exist, they wanted to get her pregnant during sordid sexual encounters. Hull Crown Court heard the couple were unaware at the time she did not exist and made a "deliberate decision" to meet and take advantage of her sexually, and "follow it through".

HullLive reports the pair - Tranmer from Bridlington and Burdall, now 39, from Hull, both admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child between April 13 and 19, 2021. The decoy 14-year-old girl received a Facebook friend request from Burdall and a message saying: "Hi. How old are you?"

The non-existent girl replied: "I'm 14. How old are you?" Burdall told her "36" and sent a picture and a message saying: "That's my boyfriend." She sent another message saying: "Do you want to share him? He be your boyfriend too." The decoy girl replied: "How do we share him though?" and Burdall said: "Have sex with him."

The girl replied: "I am a virgin. Can I have sex at 14?" Burdall told her: "Yes. Would you want him to use a condom?" Burdall said they lived in Bridlington and the girl could tell her mum she was going to see a friend. The decoy girl asked if she could get pregnant and Burdall replied: "Yes." The girl asked: "Are you ok with your boyfriend having sex with me?" Burdall replied "Yes" and, when the girl asked what his name was, she replied: "Neil. You can add him on Facebook if you want to."

The fake girl received a friend request from Tranmer and the girl asked: "Are you Kerry's boyfriend?" He replied: "Yes. Do you want me as your boyfriend?" The decoy girl asked: "Did Kerry tell you I am 14? I have never had a boyfriend before." Tranmer and Burdall were also messaging each other at the same time.

The girl asked him: "Do you want me to get pregnant?" He replied: "Yes." Tranmer asked if she wanted to see explicit pictures of him and he sent two photographs. He asked if he could see intimate pictures of her and he asked what colour her underwear was and other explicit sexual questions.

Tranmer and Burdall continued to send messages about sexual activity, the Mirror reports, and arranged to meet the girl at the railway station, where seven members of the online group confronted them and live streamed the exchange. Burdall said: "I should not have done it. I feel guilty for what I have done."

During the police interview, Tranmer claimed Burdall made him go to meet a 14-year-old and suggested he did not mean to send messages about sex, claiming they were meant for Burdall instead. She denied sending any of the messages apart from giving her age and claimed her account had been hacked.

Michele Stuart-Lofthouse, mitigating, said Tranmer who suffered a difficult upbringing had pled guilty. Dale Brook, representing Burdall, said at the time she moved in with Tranmer and thought the relationship was "mutually loving" but the nature of the offences made her reconsider.

She thought Tranmer wanted another girlfriend. "It may seem a naive and tall story," said Mr Brook. "Since this offending, she has settled down. She is in a relationship with a new fiancé. They have accommodation together. There has been no further offending. These offences were not actually carried out because it was a decoy. There is no actual victim."

Judge Richard Woolfall said: "They did actually go to the railway station to meet this child. Their intention was to follow it through. The pair of you thought at the time that it was a real child.

"They arranged to have unprotected sex with the girl and this could have led to pregnancy. She was a decoy but the pair of you believed that it was a real 14-year-old girl. She said that she was a virgin but that didn't put you off."

Judge Woolfall told Burdall: "There was talk about not wearing a condom and that your boyfriend would want her to get pregnant and that, if that happened, she was to tell her mother that it was a mate's brother. All she had to tell her mum was that she was going to see a mate. You sent her pictures. The pair of you were texting her at this point about having sex with her. You sent photos and told her not to tell anyone or show them to anyone.

"You told her that she must not report him to the police. You arranged to meet the next day at the Bridlington train station. There was talk about what sexual positions she would want. The next day, you travelled and went to the train station, expecting to meet her, but you were apprehended by the group of people who had effectively set all this up and the police were called.

"This was a deliberate decision made by the pair of you. The harm is less because no actual victim existed. It still makes it a serious offence, however. You did both go to the railway station with the intention of meeting this child and it was obvious what was intended because you so graphically described it in those texts.

"She was encouraged and told not to report the behaviour. Pregnancy was a possibility. You each preyed on a vulnerable member of society, a child who you believed was a genuine child. Both of you attended at the train station expecting her to attend so that physical acts could take place."

Tranmer was jailed for two-and-a-half years and Burdall was locked up for two years and three months. They were each given an eight-year sexual harm prevention order.

Tranmer must register as a sex offender for life and Burdall must notify her details to the police for 10 years.

Don't miss the latest Scottish crime and courts news. Sign up to our daily newsletter.