Nottingham man who posed online as a woman and carried out ‘honeytrap’ attack jailed

A robber who posed online as a woman to lure his victim to a secluded beauty spot has been jailed.

Paul Simpson, aged 33, threatened to stab his victim, after enticing him to a wooded area of Wollaton Park.

The victim, a man in his thirties, had been contacted out-of-the-blue a few days earlier by a woman who claimed to have known him at school.

In a series of social media messages, the victim agreed to meet the woman for a date on the afternoon of 19 October 2019.

As he arrived, he was sent a picture of a group of trees and walked towards them.

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Moments later he was approached from behind, dragged to the ground and assaulted by Simpson, who threatened to stab him before making off with his mobile phone and bank card.

Simpson denied any knowledge of the offence and claimed to have been attending a birthday party in Clifton at the time of the attack.

His mobile phone, however, told a different story, and forensic analysis of the device placed him in the park at the time of the offence.

His lies were further exposed by a witness who also placed him at the scene.

Simpson, of Brinkhill Crescent, Clifton, later pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery but denied being in possession of a knife or threatening to use one.

After a subsequent trial of fact at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday it was decided that he had indeed made the threat – although no knife was seen by the victim at the time of the offence.

Simpson was jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Detective Constable Adam Rigby, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a particularly nasty, calculated offence that has had a very significant impact on the victim.

“Simpson didn’t commit this appalling act in the heat of the moment; he planned it for days in advance – even posing as a potential date to lure the victim into a honeytrap.

“After lying repeatedly about what happened he was finally undone by his own mobile phone, which was used to expose those lies and place him at the scene of the crime.

“I am delighted that the victim in this case finally has the justice he deserves and hope this very strong sentence for a first-time offender shows just how seriously the justice system takes this kind of offending.”