January 2022

Trucker jailed after police caught him trying to meet child for sex in back of lorry

A trucker has been jailed after trying to meet up with a child for sex in the back of his lorry.

Martin Harrison, aged 48, thought that he was meeting with a girl, 12, but it turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Harrison, from Walsall, West Midlands, sent explicit messages over an instant text platform to the officer who worked for Kent Police’s Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU)

Over the duration of a week in October 2019, Harrison encouraged the ‘ child ‘ to meet up with him for sex – despite being informed of her age at the very start of their conversation.

He said that he was due to travel to France by ferry on October 21, 2019, and asked to meet up with her in Dover town centre the evening before.

However, on arrival, Harrison was met by Kent Police who arrested him and took him into custody.

Harrison, of Valley Road, Walsall, later pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child, arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

He was jailed for three years when he appeared for sentencing at Canterbury Crown Court on January 17 and was also made subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.