March 2018

Former Huddersfield bus driver exposed by paedophile hunters

A court has heard how a paedophile hunting group posted live footage of a confrontation with a former Huddersfield bus driver on its Facebook page after he tried to get a 13-year-old boy to perform a sex act.

The youngster was contacted by pensioner Graham Oswin via Facebook and even though he told the 65-year-old his age the defendant said he looked really nice.

The teenager alerted his mother who carried on the conversation via Facebook messenger posing as her son.

Bradford Crown Court that although the police were contacted about Oswin’s behaviour a paedophile hunting group known as One Reason was also alerted and they visited his home.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharpe said the confrontation was streamed live by members of the group on their Facebook page last month.

The footage prompted hundreds of comments from members of the public and posts on the site indicated that Oswin had previously worked as a bus driver in Huddersfield and Halifax.

He was also said to have been employed as a taxi driver in Calderdale in the past.

Oswin, who had a previous conviction on his record for sexual offending against a girl in 1979, pleaded guilty to charges of sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

After his arrest by police Oswin claimed that he had contacted the boy during “idle browsing” on Facebook.

His barrister Nigel Jamieson confirmed that the pensioner had been met at his own front door by members of the One Reason group.

He submitted that his client was motivated to find out why he behaved as had and was willing to work with the probation service to address any risks of reoffending in the future.

The Recorder of Bradford Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC indicated that Oswin faced a 15-month jail term after a trial, but that was reduced to 10 months due to his guilty pleas.

The judge went on to explain that with the prevalence of early release schemes due to overcrowding in prisons the defendant would be released with very little supervision very quickly and he decided that the prison sentence could be suspended for two years.