Vigilance can report that two people who attempted to sell an 11-month-old child to an undercover reporter have today been convicted at the Inner London Crown Court.
A 48-year-old man [A] and a 29-year-old woman [B], both of north east London were found guilty of conspiracy to commit cruelty to a person under 16 years of age contrary to section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 and holding another person in slavery, contrary to section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2010.
Vigilance learnt authoritatively that they will all be sentenced on Friday 27 May.
A 31-year-old man [C] was found not guilty of the same offences.
Details of the case
The convictions follow an investigation by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) Child Abuse Investigation Command after information was passed to them by the News of the World newspaper.
In September 2010 [A] told a friend he wanted to sell a child he claimed was his daughter, for financial gain. This friend subsequently contacted the News of the World and a meeting was arranged with [A] and [B], along with two reporters posing as a prospective couple wanting to purchase the child.
After a number of meetings and phone calls a price of £35,000 (£25,000 for [B] and £10,000 for [A]) was agreed and the News of the World contacted police.
Detectives began investigating those involved and spoke to the friend who had been acting as the intermediary. He informed officers that the meeting for payment had been arranged for 22 September 2010.
On the 22 September at a hotel in east London [A] and [B] handed over the child to the undercover reporters after accepting the cash sum agreed. Officers then swooped on the room and the pair were arrested on suspicion of child neglect.
The child was taken into police protection and with the assistance of social services, taken to a place of safety.
A man [C] was subsequently arrested as part of police inquiries.
The three were subsequently charged and dealt with as above.
Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Briggs, head of the Child Abuse Investigation Command, said: "This was an appalling case where individuals have attempted to sell a vulnerable child for their own personal gain and with no consideration whatsoever for her safety and future.
"We thank the News of the World for bringing this case to our attention and we are indebted to our partners in Newham Social Services who joined us in a fast moving operation to recover the victim and remove her to safety."