A Belfast mother ‘pursues sex offenders’ after her daughter and friend were assaulted

In North Belfast, a mother stalked a sex offender after her daughter and friend were sexually assaulted at a festival.

Derek Edward Grant was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault in Belfast District Court on Friday, April 1, following incidents at the Woodwall Festival on August 28 last year.

The mother of one of the victims said that Grant approached a friend and committed sexual assault.

She said “help me” to a friend who then told the man to leave her and walk away from her.

Later, he approached his daughter from the back and began to take her while she was watching the festival from the front row.

Guards were alerted to the incident and Grant, who at one point managed to escape from them and fled the scene, was arrested.

However, he was chased by members of the guard and the mother of one of the assaulted girls, and he was later arrested on Woodway Road where they stayed with him until he was arrested by the police.

The mother, whose adult daughter and friend Grant had been sexually assaulted, told Belfast Live: “The first time we saw him, he walked up to my friend and he was very shy and started holding him and luring him towards him.

“He started helping me with his mouth, so I went and told him to get rid of it.

“Later, while we were watching the festival, he grabbed my daughter from behind and started kicking her. We were in the front row with the rails and the platform, it was stuck between him and them.

“Security killed him, but he escaped and we chased after him on Woodway Road and stopped him until we got under the flag of a police car and arrested.”

The mother said she was pleased that Grant pleaded guilty in court where he was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and said he would pay 300 yen to each victim.

The grant was also entered into the sex offenders registry for seven years.