Monday, 05 Feb 2007 19:53
Robert Mayers, David Beavan, Alan Hedgcock (from l-r)
Three men who discussed plans to rape young girls in an online chatroom have been jailed.
David Beavan, 42, from Bournemouth; Alan Hedgcock, 42, from Twickenham, south-west London; and Robert Mayers, 42, from Warrington, were sentenced to a total of 27 years at Southwark crown court.
Evidence from the "reputable" internet chatroom was used to convict the men after police were alerted to the plot when Beavan, a shop worker, walked into Bournemouth police station and told officers about the plan last January.
Detectives established that Beavan had been sharing indecent images of children with Hedgcock, a film make-up artist who has worked on movies such as 28 Days Later and First Knight.
Hedgcock suggested a plan to abduct two girls - aged 13 and 14 - and conversations between the two men detailed how they intended to kidnap the girls as they left school and rape them in local woods.
Beavan also spoke via the internet to unemployed Mayers, who was not known to Hedgcock, about the possibility of abusing the two girls.
During the men's trial, the court heard how Beavan and Hedgcock had likened the plot to the murders of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002. They were cleared of conspiracy to murder charges.
All three men were convicted of conspiracy to rape having pleaded guilty to a series of other charges involving the possession of indecent images of children. They were handed indeterminate sentences this morning.
Beavan was told he would serve a minimum of 11 years in jail while Hedgcock and Mayers received minimum tariffs of eight years.
Speaking after today's sentencing, Detective Constable Dave Adams, from the Metropolitan police's child abuse unit, said: "These three men took a step beyond fantasy and had actually identified the children they would target, the location where they would approach them and what exactly they planned to do to them.
"It is appalling to consider the potential repercussions if this hadn't come to police notice.
"This is a really significant investigation because for the first time internet chat logs have been used to prove a charge of conspiracy to rape a child. This case should act as a really stark warning that the internet is not a hiding place to plan and participate in criminal acts.
"The court had rejected Beavan's claims that he was working as a vigilante and was planning to hand over the information he discovered to police.
Claims that the plot was no more than a fantasy were also dismissed.
The two girls at the centre of the plot were not aware of the plan to abduct them.