STEPHEN IRELAND was a popular LGBT activist, who co-founded Surrey Pride and held the important position of its head of safeguarding.
But he will now spend the next 24 years in prison after raping an “extremely vulnerable” 12-year-old boy in April 2024.
Stephen Ireland, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, raped a 12-year-old boy he met on dating app Grindr[/caption]
Ireland was sentenced to 24 years in prison[/caption]
I was in Guildford Crown Court on Monday to watch Judge Patricia Lees hand Ireland, 42, his sentence, which included a further six years on extended licence.
His 27-year-old boyfriend and flatmate, David Sutton, was jailed for four and half years for his part in the sickening ordeal.
The boy — referred to in court as Child A — who had been reported missing at the time, had been lured to Ireland’s home in Surrey after meeting him on the popular gay dating app Grindr.
In a carefully calculated move, Ireland provided the boy with a set of instructions and a key code to his flat, to avoid being seen together in public.
The boy, tired and hungry, was given a bong to smoke, which was later found to be laced with methamphetamine, while pornography played on a laptop.
Then he was raped by Ireland and the assault filmed, for the sadistic enjoyment of their cohorts.
The four-week trial followed an extensive investigation by Surrey Police’s Complex Abuse Unit.
‘Keep it a secret’
It began following the reported rape, which led to Ireland’s arrest in April 2024.
A search of a phone hidden in his flat revealed indecent images of children.
Ireland and Sutton were both arrested on June 11, 2024, for distribution and possession of indecent images of children, and on August 14, 2024, charges were authorised for 44 offences (later increased to 45) relating to both, covering the period between August 2022 and July 2024.
Ireland’s full list of crimes is horrifying.
He was also convicted of three counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual assault, conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, facilitating a child sexual offence, six counts of making child abuse imagery, distributing pornographic images of children, and possession of one of the most serious child abuse images, involving a toddler.
Sutton, who was a Surrey Pride volunteer, was sentenced for offences including voyeurism and possession and distribution of prohibited images of children.
He was also sentenced for perverting the course of justice for disposing of a phone owned by Surrey Pride (supposedly used for Pride business only).
On a separate device, police found a message from Ireland to Sutton, telling him to wipe all the images and messages off the Pride handset.
That device has never been found.
Child A had originally told Ireland he was 17, but when he later claimed in a message that he was 13, Ireland replied: “OK — we just have to keep it a secret.”
Sickeningly, he later told the boy he found his young age “naughty and kinky”.
Other messages between Ireland and Sutton described the child as a “14-year-old baby . . . who wants to play with men’s bodies”.
Ireland’s 27-year-old boyfriend and accomplice, David Sutton, was jailed for four and half years for his part in the sickening ordeal[/caption]
Judge Patricia Lees said Ireland and Sutton, pictured, ‘fed off one another’ and had supported one another in their ‘perversions’[/caption]
Judge Patricia Lees said Ireland and Sutton “fed off one another” and had supported one another in their “perversions”.
She said: “Stephen Ireland is a man who prided himself on being versed in and highly alive to the vulnerabilities of young people linked to the Surrey Pride organisation he was at the time pivotal to.
“‘A’ was quite obviously to any adult an extremely vulnerable child who was highly sexualised.
“Any responsible adult would have quickly appreciated that there was a high likelihood ‘A’ is a young man who had been the subject of sexual grooming by adult men at a very early age and been concerned for him instead of taking advantage.”
It is clear that Ireland, who co-founded Surrey Pride in 2018, used his position to gain access to young people and children.
He was once so revered by the community, he was chauffeured around by Surrey Police in its “Pride Car”.
But some volunteers had complained after feeling uneasy about the young age of his then boyfriend.
I was in Guildford Crown Court on Monday to watch Judge Patricia Lees hand Ireland, 42, his sentence[/caption]
So militant were Ireland’s views on trans rights he targeted gender critical feminists, including the author JK Rowling[/caption]
One of those, Eve — not her real name — told me: “There were some volunteers that raised concerns and there was a full safeguarding investigation, which was also escalated up to Surrey County Council.
“They had a huge issue about the fact that Ireland had a younger boyfriend, but he was above the age of 18, so that was that.”
Ireland was also involved in the Pride Hub, which encouraged young people to join in-person social events.
There is video footage of him sitting with an older “trans woman” telling kids they could “have sweets and popcorn” if they came along to a film screening.
He also gave talks to schools.
Throughout his time at the helm of Surrey Pride, Ireland waged a harassment campaign against Policing and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend, which included lobbying for her removal from office, and regularly referring to her as “anti-trans” and “exclusionary” in public.
So militant were his views on trans rights, he targeted gender critical feminists, including author JK Rowling, who had spoken out against transitioning children, and for the protection of women-only spaces.
Campaigner Maria Esposito believes Surrey Pride should now be shut down for ‘safeguarding failures’[/caption]
In June 2020, Ireland tweeted: “How to ruin a legacy . . . Become a TERF! Very disappointing JK!”
Rowling posted on X about his 30-year sentence on Monday.
Maria Esposito, an LGB campaigner since the 1980s and an attendee of the inaugural Surrey Pride, expressed unease about how quickly Ireland appeared to embed both himself and Pride within mainstream institutions.
She said: “Watching them gain access to Surrey County Council, Surrey Police and local radio stations was deeply concerning.”
Esposito believes Surrey Pride should now be shut down.
