Opinion

Tom Kelly: Kevin Magee right to turn the spotlight on paedophile hunters

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly is an Irish News columnist with a background in politics and public relations. He is also a former member of the Policing Board.

BBC journalist Kevin Magee being angrily confronted and filmed by members of a group styling itself as predator catchers
BBC journalist Kevin Magee being angrily confronted and filmed by members of a group styling itself as predator catchers BBC journalist Kevin Magee being angrily confronted and filmed by members of a group styling itself as predator catchers

When I saw the video of BBC journalist Kevin Magee being harangued in a café by what looked like a group of thugs, I was truly shocked.

Magee comes with a pretty tough reputation as a journalist as anyone in my business will know but even this hardened hack seemed shaken by the experience.

Magee had been undertaking an investigative piece for BBC news on the growing phenomena of self-appointed paedophile hunters, who in my book are just plain old vigilantes. Magee was tackling a difficult aspect of reporting on paedophile hunters because on the face of it these are people who appear to be concerned for the welfare of kids.

No doubt the vast majority of the tens of thousands who follow these groups on social media actually believe that too and are motivated by genuine concerns.

What Magee found out was that some of those involved in paedophile hunter groups were less than savoury characters themselves. The PSNI would probably take an even less favourable view of them. The social media video posted by Magee’s tormentors was intentionally intimidating.

More alarming than the video was hearing one of these self appointed community ‘activists’ on the Nolan Show during the week.

This man said he revelled in the role of judge, jury and executioner of anyone that he or his cronies felt was a potential paedophile. He went on to tell Stephen Nolan that he would celebrate destroying every aspect of the lives of those he and his fellow vigilantes targeted.

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Nolan didn’t have to say too much as this guy's self-incriminating mouth was spewing like a fountain.

It was terrifying to listen to because this was as if William Golding’s Lord of the Flies had come to life - only with adults as the characters rather than children.

Now, let me pause a moment from my indignation at vigilante groups. Paedophilia is totally beyond my comprehension. The rational part of my brain tells me it’s an illness and I know it has to be because it’s so vile. It’s a crime where the hurt would appear to never end for victims.

The real scary thing is that paedophiles come from all walks of life and all professions where the trust of children could be easily won and then cruelly manipulated. This is one of the reasons that the people best placed to catch paedophiles are the police, not a mob. There is very little chance of recovery from a false allegation of child abuse.

Kevin Magee was bravely venturing into a world of populist righteous anger fuelled through social media - where the rule is that the mob is right and everyone else is wrong. That these so called vigilantes are less than edifying is masked by their apparent concern for the welfare of children. Magee was right to unmask them.

A savage image of a whipped up mob act is still embedded in my mind, like a recurring nightmare. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Jack’s group were so inflamed and high on hate that they hadn’t even noticed that they had actually killed Simon. I haven’t read that book in nearly forty years but I still remember the shock of discovering that children of my age then could be capable of such evil.

In wider terms, the media aren’t blameless when it comes to stoking up hysteria and fear.

We all need to err on the side of caution before jumping on any bandwagon and joining dots were there are none. Who can forget the treatment of Christopher Jefferies who was landlord of the murdered woman, Joanna Yeates?

This eccentric, quirky, middle-aged bachelor was described by the media as ‘weird’, and a ‘loner’. He was arrested. Social media comment was on fire about how he was obviously guilty looking. However, the man was completely innocent and another neighbour was responsible for the murder.

The facts against vigilantism speak for themselves – 110 alleged paedophile cases have been reported to the police but the chances of any ending up in a prosecution are remote given concerns over the evidence.

Social media, like mainstream media, can be a force for good – if we don’t get carried away with a herd mentality.