A serial sex offender who recorded himself sexually assaulting a toddler was caught out by police who recognised his tattoos.
Peter Neild’s attacks on the little girl came to light after police found a phone hidden in the headrest of a chair in his Little Sutton home and matched his tattoos to those captured in the video. Officers had gone to arrest him on suspicion of downloading indecent images from the internet but were faced with vile footage of Neild himself carrying out abuse.
The 50-year-old, who told police "I need help, I cannot continue like this", was labelled a danger to children as a judge jailed him at Liverpool Crown Court earlier this week. At a hearing earlier in May, Frank Dillon, prosecuting, said police raided his home on January 27 this year because they believed he had downloaded indecent images of children from the internet.
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Yet when they searched his home and found the phone hidden in the headrest they discovered horrific images of Neild carrying out abuse himself. Mr Dillon said: “His device was reviewed and two video clips were identified showing a male offender committing a contact sexual offence with a small toddler. All that could be seen of the offender was his hand and wrist but there were tattoos visible that were identical to those of the defendant.”
Officers have since been able to identify the child and she and her family are being supported by social services. Neild was also sentenced for an earlier set of offences committed when he was living in Southport.
In 2018, Neild messaged a member of UK Justice, a paedophile vigilante group, who was posing as a young girl online. Neild messaged the account numerous times, becoming increasingly sexual and aggressive in the way he spoke to her, asking her to send him pictures of herself masturbating.
Describing the messages sent by Neild, Judge Gary Woodhall said: “They are graphic, they are aggressive and they are bullying.” Eventually, Neild invited the girl to Southport, where he was living at the time, where he said he would meet her off the train.
Rebecca Smith, defending, said Neild, who has previously received jail terms for sexual offences including rape, unlawful sexual contact with a child and sexual assault of a child, realised he had committed yet more extremely disturbing sexual offences. She said: “In his own words, the ones he spoke to the officer during his interview, ‘I need to get help, I cannot continue like this’. He knows this is criminal behaviour and it will not be tolerated.”
Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Gary Woodhall judged Neild to be a dangerous offender and handed him an extended sentence. Neild, of Chester Road, Little Sutton, was jailed for 10 years and 10 months, with a further five years on extended licence.
