Paedo march: Angry protesters call for action (From Dorset Echo)

Paedo march: Angry protesters call for action

7:30am Monday 1st February 2010

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PROTESTERS chanting ‘paedos out’ marched through Weymouth town centre in a bid to rid the resort of child abusers.

Passers-by flocked to join the anti-paedophile rally as it brought the shopping streets to a standstill on Saturday.

A police escort stopped the traffic on Weymouth Esplanade as the 50-strong group called for paedophiles living in the borough to be named and shamed.

They handed out t-shirts and leaflets urging people to shop paedophiles – and demanded the introduction of a ‘Sarah’s law’ to give more information about the whereabouts of child sex attackers.

Liz Matthews, 46, from South Road, Wyke Regis, joined the march.

She said: “We’ve come to try and have some sort of effect to make people sit up and be aware that they are here and we need to do something about it to keep our children safe.

“We know they’ve got to live somewhere but not by the seaside where thousands of children come. This is not the place for paedophiles. Weymouth is a family resort. They shouldn’t be here.”

Daniel Riggs, 29, from Fortuneswell, Portland, set up the march amid the furore over convicted paedophile David Payne living in Weymouth.

Payne fled the town after an outcry when it was revealed he lived a short walk from the beach – just a mile from one of his victims.

Mr Riggs gave a speech as the parade began at the Jubilee Clock.

He said: “Even though David Payne has gone they are still housing other sex offenders in the area. Weymouth has a nice beach and seafront and in the summer our children are out here to play.

“We have to put our voices together as a community and say we are not going to stand for this.

“We want Sarah’s Law and to have the right to know if any paedophiles are living in our communities.”

The group asked for a late change of route to allow them to walk through St Mary Street.

The section commander for Weymouth and Portland, Inspector Pete Meteau, agreed to the change.

The march swelled in numbers with whole families donning the campaign t-shirts and joining in.

A police van was again used to stop the traffic as they paraded up Westham Road and back along The Esplanade.

Brothers Darren and John Marsden left their King Street home to join in.

Darren, 22, said: “We were just passing and we had heard about it in the Echo.

“We’ve heard about so many paedophiles lately and people are trying to do something about it. This is a good start. This is a seaside town with plenty of kids so paedophiles should not be here.”

Organisers who set up a group on the social networking website Facebook to rid the town of David Payne also joined the march.

Mum Stacey Broughton, 24, from Southill, set up the group and has a 500-strong petition calling for paedophiles to be driven out of Dorset.

She said: “From talking to people today we’ve been told about more paedophiles in our area from people who’ve done a police check. You can’t go around accusing people but I think we have a right to know as parents.

“If everybody in every town did something then something would be done.”

Michelle Ross, 30, from Wyke Regis, helped set up the internet group. She said: “It’s just made us angry and frightened for our children to realise there are so many sex offenders living in Dorset under our noses.

“The current assessment system is not enough because these paedophiles are re-offending.”

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