Lee Hull

A dangerous sex offender from Norwich has been imprisoned following his conviction for a series of child sexual offences, including attempts to groom young girls and possession of horrific indecent images. Lee Hull, aged 54, of Sussex Street, Norwich, appeared at Norwich Crown Court where he received a sentence of 32 months' imprisonment.

The case came to light after Hull was arrested in a sting operation conducted by a paedophile hunter group. Between December 2022 and March 2023, Hull engaged in online communications believing he was speaking to nine girls aged between 12 and 14. Prosecuting barrister Ian James described how Hull began with seemingly innocent conversations, sharing images of pets and cars to build rapport, before escalating to sending pictures and videos of male genitals and engaging in explicit discussions about sexual acts he wished to perform with the supposed children.

Upon confrontation at his home by the hunter group, police were called, and officers seized Hull's mobile phone. A search revealed more than 200 indecent images stored on the device, including 62 of the most serious Category A classification. Among the disturbing content were images depicting extreme violence, such as a man having sex with a woman's headless body, a woman being hanged, and a hanged woman in her underwear with a breast exposed. The youngest victim in the images was estimated to be around 18 months old, with the youngest in the Category A images believed to be three years old.

Hull pleaded guilty to nine counts of attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child, two counts of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, three offences of making indecent images of children, and possession of extreme pornographic images. Judge Andrew Shaw, presiding over the case, labelled Hull a dangerous offender who posed a significant risk to the public. 'It doesn't really matter that the people you were attempting to contact weren't in fact children,' the judge stated. 'The details of what you said to them and what you wanted them to do are frankly disgusting.'

In mitigation, Stephen Spence argued that Hull was a 'sad and isolated' individual who had been seeking to fulfil his fantasies through the messages. Despite this, the court imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order on Hull and placed him on the sex offenders register indefinitely. The case was handled by Norfolk Constabulary, highlighting ongoing efforts to protect children from online predators.