A MIDDLE-AGED man told a court he abducted a teenage girl from her Cumbrian care home because she was about to travel to Manchester to meet an adult sex grooming gang.

During a three-hour trial at Carlisle’s Rickergate court, the man said his belief was a “reasonable excuse” for taking the child.

He accepted not raising concerns with the authorities or speaking to staff at the care home. But as the boyfriend of the girl’s mother at the time, the teenager confided in him, he told magistrates.

Knowing she had previously absconded, and fearing she would imminently leave for Manchester, he said he felt he had to protect her.

The girl’s mother admitted inducing the girl to leave the care home while the male defendant denied the abduction charge. He was found guilty.

During the trial, prosecutor George Shelley outlined how the male defendant drove to the home where a care worker who was looking for the teenager saw her get into his car.

Police were alerted and more than an hour later stopped the car, arresting the man and attempting to persuade the girl to go with them.

She was “hysterical,” said one of the officers involved. She said she would rather be arrested than return to the care home.

In his police interview, the man said the girl was planning to run away to Blackpool and then Manchester to meet up with adult males. He planned to deliver the girl to her mother, who would then take her to a hotel.

Defence lawyer James McCall-Harkness quizzed the defendant.

Asked about his understanding of the teenager’s situation, the man said: “She was going to see groups of Asian men who were spiking her drinks and stuff.” He said the girl had previously absconded. 

On one occasion, she was found at the home of a man in his 30s.  “He was involved in drugs,” the defendant said.

“Did you understand that [the girl] was getting herself involved in a dangerous situation?” asked Mr McCall-Harkness. The defendant replied: “Yes.” He said he knew the girl was in care because of her “family problems” and the death of her father.

Pressed further about what he believed was going to happen, the man said: “It was over a few days; she kept telling me she was going to lose her phone and that she’d made arrangements to meet somebody in Manchester.

“It was some group of people; she met this Asian grooming gang, so I contacted her mother and her sister and explained that stuff needed to be done.

"She was going to be in a pretty bad situation.”

He said the teenager was “adamant” that she would meet the men. He described the girl as “nice but strong minded.”  Asked if he was concerned for the girl’s safety, he replied: “Yes - one hundred per cent.”

Mr McCall-Harkness asked: “Did you feel you had to protect this vulnerable child?” The man replied: “One hundred per cent yes.”  He felt he did the right thing, he said.

Mr Shelley, in cross-examination, asked the defendant why he did not notify the authorities about his safeguarding concerns. “I was expecting the family to do it,” he said. 

He considered the issue a “personal thing” and believed it was for the family to contact the authorities. The prosecutor said the man "encouraged" the girl to leave the care home, prompting the reply: “She was going to go anyway.”

In his closing speech, Mr McCall-Harkness said the defendant “genuinely feared for the girl’s safety,” believing she would be sexually exploited, and that she was determined to leave the care home to go to Manchester.

The girl had twice previously gone missing from the home. “The people who were supposed to be protecting her failed,” said the lawyer.

Mr Shelley said the defendant knew the girl was in care and, despite his claim that she was being sexually exploited by a grooming gang, he at no stage took steps to notify the authorities – care home staff, the police, or the local authority.

He had simply picked her up outside the care home and driven away, planning to deliver the teenager to her mother. Common sense dictated his reasons for acting that way were not a reasonable excuse in law, said the prosecutor.

Magistrates fined the man £461, with a £184 surcharge and costs of £650. The girl’s mother, whose lawyer said her actions were motivated by guilt at the girl being taken into care, was fined £80, with a £114 surcharge, and £85 costs.

She was also given a 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation activity days. The parties can not be identified for legal reasons.

* The trial heard no direct evidence to corroborate the male defendant's claim that the girl was in contact with a grooming gang.