Q & A!

So I put a post on Facebook asking for suggestions on what to write about, so here goes!

What do you do to unwind and detach from these stings how do you personally cope with what you have to see and do?

As crazy as it sounds, most of us continue to decoy as a way to unwind. If we need to detach for a while we simply make excuses, put the phone down and live a normal day. We have amazing support in the team and each one knows we have one another to talk to if anything has upset us. Kerry is usually the one we turn to. She's the mummy of the group - even though she's one of the youngest!!

How the hell do you keep your hands off these vile horrible people ?

Quite easy actually. We have the camera rolling and only use reasonable force should the matter arise. We would much rather see a predator labelled as a paedophile for the rest of their lives than see them get a beating that lasts a few minutes. It's all about exposure!

Do you ever dream about stings you've done but with a different outcome?

I personally don't because I can sleep easy knowing that we have got another danger off the street. I know sometimes it can be a difficult sting and it can play on your mind for a few days but knowing that there's more out there keeps you focused.

How do you feel when your on your way to a sting?

Excited, nervous anxious..all the emotions in one really! Knowing that we have the best evidence against them and that they will be sleeping in a cell helps ease it!

Does a decoy have one nonce to deal with or more than one at a time and how the heck do you all fit all the work you do in with your lives.

Yes! A lot of decoys have many, many chats going, some even have multiple decoys of varying ages. It all depends on which apps they are on too. The team all have jobs and families of their own so most decoying is done in the morning or after school and weekends. There are days where a decoy is poorly from school/ home schooled so this gives the decoys more time to speak with the predator.

How do u separate doing stings and having to see and hear wot you do from your personal lives??

It's hard to describe really. I suppose you can compare it to your job, you just get on with it! If anything upsets us, we speak with other team members. Luckily we have families who support us in what we do!

How do you unwind after a sting when emotions are running high?

Cake, chocolate, coffee or a little gin and lemonade! We don't really unwind as there's many more waiting to be stung in the pipeline so we concentrate on those. After the sting has finished, it doesn't stop there. Many emails back and forth to the police, inboxes to the page and more beyond that!

So in your amazing team is there any of you couples?

There are indeed! I'm also sorry to tell you that legs aka Cocko is also taken but don't stop stroking his ego, he enjoys it haha!

How hard is it to be a decoy?

Extremely. We see and read some of the most disturbing things. There's also a lot of other work that needs to be done. Learning how to do googledrives, MG11's research, tracking and also safeguarding real children.

How big is the team?

It's not too big! There's 6 decoys and about 20 hunters/security in Scotland, North West and South West. We like it this way and rarely add anyone new. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Having been in a large team before, I found that this was more of a hindrance and many stings were missed because of this.

All these vile cretins seem to say they've been hacked so what I'd like to know is, how does someone know if they've been hacked and has anyone who's been previously stung by this team or another genuinely been hacked?

I can't talk for other teams because I just don't know. Our team though, no definitely not. The ones we sting are 100% guilty. They send live images and videos of themselves which show visible marks/tattoos etc also their voice notes mean that they are banged to rights. Their devices are seized and downloaded which also proves their guilt. The evidence we have it watertight and unlike a couple of teams, we will never sting on a couple of days chat log. We never go uncertain. We'd rather wait 6 months to gather the correct evidence then go on a 'what if'.