Liam l’Anson North

A 29-year-old man from Middleton in Rochdale has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison after being convicted of online child sex offences at Leeds Crown Court.

Liam l’Anson North was found guilty by a jury of three counts: attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and two offences of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. The case came to light in mid-2021 when North, using an alias on social media, made contact with what he believed to be a 13-year-old female. In reality, the account was controlled by undercover officers from West Yorkshire Police's Kirklees Online Investigation Team.

According to court reports, the conversation quickly turned sexual, with North demonstrating clear intent to commit serious sexual offending against a young child. He was arrested in June 2021 following the initial contact and charged on 18 February 2022. Despite attempts to delete messages and hide his activity, investigations by the West Yorkshire Police Digital Forensics Unit recovered evidence from his devices, providing a full picture of his communications.

PC James Hackman of the Online Investigation Team welcomed the sentencing, stating: “We welcome the sentencing of L’Anson North and believe he poses a real risk to young children. In his conversations, he demonstrated clear intent to commit serious sexual offending against young children, and it is fortunate the person he thought he was speaking with was actually a police officer.” He further emphasised the effectiveness of the investigation, noting: “A key part of this investigation was the very close working between Kirklees officers and our specialist colleagues at the Digital Forensics Unit which provided us with a full picture of activity L’Anson North would rather have stayed hidden. This case should also make very clear to those who think they can ‘cover their tracks’ when engaging in child sexual offending that force specialists are extremely skilled at retrieving deleted evidence from phones and computer equipment.”

The sentencing took place on 24 July 2023, highlighting the ongoing efforts by West Yorkshire Police to protect vulnerable children online through dedicated teams targeting such predators.