Depraved Darwen man who held girls in Bury hotel room jailed

Police said Smith's behaviour had been "nothing short of sickening"

A "depraved" man who used fake social media profiles to find his teenage victims and was caught with two missing girls in a hotel room has been jailed.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said Colin Smith, 59, of Darwen, Lancashire, used multiple online aliases to "lure his victims into trusting him".

He was arrested in August 2020 after GMP tracked two teenagers to a room he had put them in at a Bury hotel.

He was jailed for 12 years at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

Smith, of Everton Street, pleaded guilty to 11 offences, including sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming and making and distributing indecent images of children.

The force said he had committed crimes against five victims.

'Resilience and bravery'

A representative said Smith was arrested on 19 August 2020 after putting two missing girls in a hotel room in Bury.

They said that when he returned to the room, GMP officers were waiting for him, and a subsequent search of his devices "uncovered further victims of grooming" and evidence of possession and distribution of indecent images of children and extreme pornography.

They added that he was a "calculated individual" who created multiple social media accounts and aliases and often posed as a teenager to lure his victims into trusting him.

Speaking after sentencing, Det Ch Insp Ian Partington said Smith's behaviour had been "nothing short of sickening" and in some cases, "he plied them with alcohol in order to commit abhorrent and depraved offences".

PC Carly Baines added that his victims deserved thanks for their "resilience and bravery", which gave police the opportunity to put a "dangerous and depraved man in prison".

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