Cabbie praised for thwarting kidnap bid
Detectives have praised a taxi driver who foiled a pervert who tried to snatch a 16-year-old girl off the streets of Preston.
Now cowboy-loving Adrian Purvis is starting a 12-month prison sentence and banned from using the internet for five years.
Adrian Purvis, 36, "groomed" the-then 15-year-old through Facebook and Bebo while his wife Sarah, 28, was pregnant with their third child.
He was caught after eagle-eyed taxi driver James Fraser raised the alarm after he saw Purvis lift the youngster on to railings and try to "entice" her into his car.
Mr Fraser told the court how the girl stood there "as if she was frozen" and clung to the railings.
Det Insp Jonathan Holmes, of Preston's Pubic Protection Unit, said: "I would like to take the opportunity to praise the actions of the taxi driver who at the time rang the police and in doing so prevented what would undoubtedly have been a far worse crime committed.
"We are pleased with the result which has led to a dangerous individual being taken off the streets. This was a man who targeted a vulnerable young person and we pay tribute to her courage in this case."
Purvis, a gardener who enjoys dressing up as a cowboy, arranged to meet her in Preston on January 9 this year.
He tried to force the girl into his car close to Preston bus station, but was thwarted when a taxi driver saw him and called police.
At Lancaster Crown Court, Judge Beverly Lunt yesterday sentenced him to 12 months for attempted kidnap.
He also received a five-year Sexual Offences' Prevention Order that bans him associating with youngsters under 17, except close family, and from using any device than gives him access to the internet including mobile phones and computers.
Purvis, of Wool Loft, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, had denied attempting to kidnap the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, but was found guilty at Preston Crown Court.
He was cleared of further counts of sexual assault and committing an offence with the intention of committing a sexual offence following a seven-day trial.
He struck up a relationship with the teenager through social networking sites and exchanged explicit text messages with her in which he asked if she was a virgin.
Purvis ended the online relationship in November last year, closing down his social networking sites and changing his mobile phone number, in a bid to save his marriage.
But the court heard he made contact with the schoolgirl again at Christmas and the relationship escalated. On January 9 he travelled to Preston, stopping at an Ann Summers shop to buy a bra and knickers set for the teenager.
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 29 July 2010
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