WILTSHIRE police and crime commissioner Angus Macpherson has condemned self-appointed ‘paedophile hunters’ as unhelpful to the police.

He cited a court case in Bristol which collapsed because of the conduct of one such hunter.

Some will agree with him, while others will argue that the hunters, as unsavoury as some of them can be, make far more prosecutions possible than they hamper.

Each argument has its merits, but if those in authority want to deter hunters they would do well to ask themselves why hunters feel the need to operate in the first place - and why so many ordinary people not only tolerate but encourage their work.

To that end, I respectfully offer the commissioner and any other senior figures connected with the law two statements about online predators, and invite them to choose the one they think most accurately reflects general public opinion.

Here is the first statement:

“When I think of online predators, I think of evil people who carry out their depraved acts in a perpetual state of terror at the prospect of being unmasked.

“I think of a large number of frontline police officers given every penny of the funding they need to tackle a scourge which evolves with every technological upgrade. I am confident there are so many of those well-equipped officers that hardly any predator fails to trigger their radar.

“I also think of the terrible but thoroughly well-deserved fate which awaits any predator caught in this huge and well-maintained legal net.

“I know they will find not a single shred of sympathy or willingness to compromise among either prosecutors or judiciary, and that without exception they can look forward to spending many years locked away in places where they will not be able to harm children or try to harm them.

“I am certain, in addition, that in the unlikely event of their being released, every move they make will be monitored.”

Here is the second statement:

“When I think of online predators, I think of evil people who are so confident of not being caught that many of them don’t even bother with more than rudimentary attempts to hide their identities.

“I think of heartbroken, traumatised, under-resourced frontline police officers overwhelmed by a scourge whose surface they can barely scratch, and who have to claw whatever equipment they can from the clutches of those who ultimately hold the purse strings.

“I also think of the treatment predators will most likely receive should they happen to be caught.

“I think of the array of people, most of them elbows-deep in the public purse, waiting to sympathise, empathise and do all in their power to ensure the magnitude of the offences committed, not to mention the life-changing trauma suffered by any victims, is downplayed.

“I think of yet another predator being allowed to skip, smirking from court with a fine, a referral and a prevention order they feel free to break.”

Whatever the truth of the matter, if anybody in authority believes the first statement more accurately reflects the public mood, they should simply sit back and wait for the number of ‘paedophile hunters’ to dwindle naturally, as they are clearly not necessary.

If anybody in authority believes the second statement more accurately reflects the public mood, they might wish to explore possible means of altering that mood.

Hunters would not be supported, tolerated or so much as considered relevant by the public were it not for the fact that millions of people feel utterly abandoned by those they look to for protection.