Paedophile who blackmailed children jailed

The National Crime Agency said Grant Giblin was "depraved"

A man who used social media to blackmail children into sending him indecent images of themselves has been jailed for eight years.

Grant Giblin used social media apps to target children aged from 10 to 16 years old between November 2021 and August last year.

The 30-year-old, from Derbyshire, would befriend the children to gain their trust and encourage them to send him images of themselves.

He would then use these to blackmail his victims into making further illegal images to send to him.

National Crime Agency officers arrested Giblin in January 2024 and charged him with 21 offences, including engaging in sexual communications with a child under 13 and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

'Vulnerable children'

Giblin, of Mercia Drive in Willington, pleaded guilty to all offences at Derby Crown Court in July, and was jailed at the same court on Wednesday.

He will have an extended licence period of a further eight years, be subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and be on the sex offenders register for life.

The agency's operations manager Danielle Pownall said: "Grant Derek Giblin is a depraved offender, preying on vulnerable children online and making them feel as if they had no choice but to send him sexual images.

"His extensive crimes were committed only for his own sexual gratification, and with no thought to the children he was cruelly exploiting."