MOHAMMED IQBAL FROM LUTON CAUGHT TRYING TO MEET 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL AT FARNHAM RAILWAY STATION

In a case that has sent shockwaves through the local community of Luton and beyond, Mohammed Iqbal, a 32-year-old man from Cavendish Road, Luton, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being convicted of attempting to meet a minor for sexual activity. The sentencing took place at Luton Crown Court on a Friday, with Judge Nigel Lithman QC delivering the verdict via a video link to Norwich prison, where Iqbal has been held since his conviction last month.

Details of the case reveal that Iqbal, operating under the alias Moonwalker007, engaged in online conversations with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl named Tia. The interactions began on the dating platform Waplog, a site known for its popularity among young users. The court was told that on the evening of July 10, Iqbal initiated contact with the girl, who was in fact a middle-aged woman named Tracey Reid from the North East of England. Reid had set up a fake profile, Tia0014, using a photograph of a teenage girl for the purpose of exposing adults attempting to groom minors online.

Reid explained to the court that her intention was to catch predators and that she used the profile to identify and confront those seeking to exploit children. Over the course of their online exchanges, Iqbal and the fake girl discussed various topics, with Iqbal expressing a desire to meet her in person. The court heard that four days after their initial contact, Iqbal arranged to meet Tia the following evening, with conversations indicating he was interested in having sex when they met.

The planned meeting was set for Farnham railway station, a location chosen by Reid to facilitate the sting. On the evening of July 15, a man who had been monitoring the situation, equipped with a body camera, spotted Iqbal’s vehicle in The Fairfield, a side road near the station. Confronting Iqbal, the man entered the car after opening the passenger door. Iqbal reacted with visible anger, flailing his arms and attempting to dismiss the confrontation. After walking away from the vehicle, Iqbal returned, got back into his car, and sped off from the scene.

Police were called to the scene but arrived too late to apprehend Iqbal at that moment. He was eventually arrested in September of the same year. During his trial, Iqbal denied setting up the profile Moonwalker007 or using the Waplog app to contact minors. He claimed that someone must have stolen his personal details and photos from his Facebook account to create the fake profile. Furthermore, he insisted he had never contacted anyone using the Tia0014 alias.

In his defense, Iqbal stated that he had traveled to Farnham that evening to meet someone selling tickets for England versus Pakistan matches via Gumtree. He claimed to have purchased seven tickets for £600 while parked in the area, and that his presence there was unrelated to the online encounter. The court, however, found sufficient evidence to convict him of attempting to meet a minor for sexual purposes, leading to his imprisonment and highlighting the ongoing efforts to combat online grooming and protect vulnerable children.