“Once a paedophile, always a paedophile”, says one of London’s self-styled ‘paedo hunters’ who take the law into their own hands in a bid to rid the capital of child grooming sex offenders.

A Woolwich hospital porter last week avoided jail after he was caught by one of the many groups operating in the capital.

Ian Williams, of Mulgrave Road, had tried to convince what he believed was a 14-year-old girl to send him topless photos.

The 48-year-old sent a photo of his genitals to ‘Eva Wells’ on Facebook - a fake profile set up by a group called Public Justice PHL (Paedophile Hunters London) to catch predators.

Williams told ‘Eva’ to “be brave” and asked if she was a “naughty girl” before telling her “it will be ur secret” if she sent him a topless photo.

He was handed a 12-week suspended sentence at Bexley Magistrates’ Court after admitting attempting to cause or incite a girl between 14 and 15 to engage in sexual activity.

The full transcript of the conversation between Williams and ‘Eva’ begins with Williams sending the message: “Hi Eva”.

News Shopper:

Some of the messages sent to 'Eva Wells'.

The paedophile hunter responds with Eva’s age to give Williams “that opportunity to get out of the conversation”.

He continues to talk to her and begs her to send him a topless photo - even resorting to using a crying emoji.

After trapping the pervert, members of the PHL group handed their dossier to police and he was arrested.

The group, set up last September, claim to be responsible for catching about 20 paedophiles and that 14 men have been convicted due to their actions with five currently serving time.

One of the organisers, who identified himself only as JB, said they made police aware of the situation while gathering “absolute concrete evidence”.

JB said: “We set it up because we were constantly coming across men who wanted to groom children online and I couldn’t sit back and ignore it.

“I thought I would go undercover and do the work and so I’ve spent hours doing what I’m doing to bring them to justice.”

News Shopper:

Some of the messages sent to 'Eva Wells'.

News Shopper has previously reported on the increasingly common paedophile hunter groups operating in south-east London and north Kent, and we spoke to a member of another group, The Hunted One, which claims to have exposed 25 paedophiles in a similar way.

The hunter, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had been reduced to tears by the graphic messages sent by men who believed they were speaking to a youngster.

He told News Shopper: “They turn up to rape a child and destroy their life. We’re getting people wanting to meet in graveyards - it’s unbelievable.”

He described members of the group as “concerned parents”, claiming they are not vigilantes.

However a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said the force does not support such activities.

He said: “This type of action could jeopardise or interfere with ongoing investigations, and our advice to anyone who has information about suspected child sexual abuse - online or otherwise - is to contact police so we can investigate and, where possible, bring people to justice.

“Revealing the identity of a potential suspect could give them the opportunity to destroy evidence before police become involved.

“It could also lead to individuals taking action in an attempt to evade police.

“Most importantly, those undertaking this type of activity cannot fully assess any risk associated to victims and their families.”