Vigilante paedophile hunter arrested over 'assault' and 'blackmail' of two men accused of attempting to meet with underage girls

The men accused of being paedophiles were beaten up by a group of people

Greater Manchester Police headquarters (Getty)

A vigilante paedophile hunter has been arrested in connection with attacks on men who were allegedly blackmailed over suspicions of attempting to meet up with underage girls.

The 25-year-old man from Wigan is being held by Greater Manchester Police on suspicion of assault and blackmail.

Two other men suspected by the vigilante group of being paedophiles have also been arrested.

One, a 25-year-old from Skelmersdale, has been charged with attempting to meet a girl under 16 after grooming. He is due to appear in a Wigan magistrates’ court tomorrow.

The second man, a 19-year-old, has been released on bail on suspicion of committing a similar offence. He believed he was to meet a 14-year-old girl in a church car park in Atherton on Friday.

But when he arrived, he was being filmed and was attacked by a group of men who accused him of being a paedophile after arranging to meet up with the young girl.

He later received messages demanding money otherwise videos of him at the car park would be uploaded to Facebook. The man reported the incident to the police and was arrested. He has been bailed pending further inquiries.

The second incident happened at 2.40pm yesterday when passers-by witnessed a mob of people beating up the Skelmersdale suspect at Market Place in Wigan.

The group accused the man of arranging to meet a 14-year-old girl online. The man was attacked by one of the men in the group, and lost two of his teeth in the fight, while the others filmed the incident which has been posted online.

The man got away from the group and went to the police station to report the incident. He has subsequently been charged with the grooming offence, police said.