In 2019, the Offender Database reported that Martin Hardiman, then 26, of Brickburn Close, Hampton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act. Following a hearing at Cambridge Crown Court on 11 April 2019, Hardiman was classified as a “highly dangerous” predator after targeting what he believed was a 13-year-old girl.
The investigation established that Hardiman befriended the “girl” on Facebook in September 2017. Over the following three weeks, his communications became increasingly “vile” and sexualised. He sent “depraved” explicit photographs of himself in female underwear and imagery of his genitals. The “vicious” nature of his messages escalated to threats of abduction, where he told the victim he would have her “bound and gagged” and locked in a shed for the purpose of molestation.
Detection and Online Stings
The “girl” Hardiman believed he was grooming was actually a male member of the Devon-based paedophile hunting group ‘Totnes Justice’. The group provided the evidence of the online activity to the authorities after Hardiman attempted to arrange a physical meeting.
DC Zoe Slater reported that while no real children were physically harmed in this specific instance, the escalation of Hardiman’s behaviour was “very concerning.” Hardiman admitted to attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, acting under the “genuine belief” that his target was a child.
Sentence and Statutory Requirements
Due to the psychiatric evidence presented at Cambridge Crown Court, Hardiman was handed a hospital order:
- Section 37/41 Detention: He was detained under the Mental Health Act, meaning he is held in a secure facility for treatment. The Section 41 “restriction order” means he cannot be discharged without the Secretary of State for Justice’s consent.
- Sex Offenders Register: Notification requirements were imposed as a result of his conviction.
- Public Protection: The court emphasised that his detention is necessary to protect the public from “serious harm.”
Monitoring and Public Protection
Hardiman is managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) by Cambridgeshire Constabulary. His history of “vicious” threats involving binding and gagging a child means he is under “critical” scrutiny by both medical and police professionals.
As a registered sex offender, Hardiman remains subject to strict notification requirements. Should he ever be deemed fit for release by a mental health tribunal and the Home Office, he will be under the most “stringent” supervision in the community. Any breach of his registration conditions or a deterioration in his mental state that poses a risk to children will result in his immediate return to a secure facility or Cambridge Crown Court.
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