A mother appeared on BBC Breakfast to tell a harrowing tale about hunting down and killing a paedophile who abused her son. Sarah Sands gave an emotional interview on the show after taking the law into her own hands which left viewers divided.
In a hard hitting discussion, Sands told presenters that she was left shell-shocked upon finding out that her 12-year-old son had been abused by notorious paedophile Michael Pleasted. The 77-year-old, who had changed his name, was well known around the East London estate where the mother and her family resided, reports the Daily Star.
Sarah explained to presenters Sally Nugent and Jon Kay how her children were affected following the incident with Pleasted. She said: "After the lack of support, in the five weeks leading up to that and the children having to go and testify, they had to go to court because he pleaded not guilty, on top of everything else.
"You know we already lost our home at this point, we'd already gone downhill quite dramatically and it was the case that he had to plead guilty, that was the only solution. He had to plead guilty because you've caused enough already.
"I wasn't aware of his previous at that point, so I didn't know how bad it was until it all unraveled." The mother, fuelled by anger decided to exact her revenge on the 77-year-old and went to his flat in 2014.
Once she arrived at the property she stabbed Michael Pleasted to death. The mother was trialled for the death of the 77-year-old back in 2015 and was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.
She was jailed for three and a half years being released in 2018 and is now campaigning for tighter restrictions on sex offenders who change their names. The 77-year-old's original name was Robin Moult and in the late 1990s he was provided with a council flat overlooking a children's playground and a primary school.
Despite his criminal past, at that time he was under no obligation to tell Newham Council about his previous convictions or his change of name. At the time, Pleasted was not on the sex offenders register because his crimes pre-dated it and neither police or the probation service had a requirement to share information about him with the council.
Despite the heart-breaking nature of the mother's story, viewers were left questioning whether she should have been given a platform on national TV. The interview this morning caused quite the stir on social media with users quick to applaud and condemn Sands.
One person wrote: "Is it normal for #bbcbreakfast to interview murderers? Seems really weird."
Another said: "So #BBCBreakfast now decides it's acceptable to plug books written by convicted killers? No matter the provocation, this simply defies belief?
"Kill someone and be convicted, safe in the knowledge that the #BBC will help you make money from your crime when you get out?"
But others sympathised with Sarah's story and jumped to the mother's defence. Offering an opposing view, one viewer stated: "Sarah and her children were failed.
"Why are they making her out to be a bad person? I'm PROUD of her and her boys!!"
While another person agreed, sharing: "The institutions failed that family. Why was that man allowed back into the community? Why was he allowed to change his name?"
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
