Man jailed after approaching schoolgirls in Blackpool

A man has been jailed after approaching schoolgirls and making sexualised comments in Blackpool, in 2023.

Cash McLaughlin was sentenced this week at Sessions House, Preston.

On Thursday 25^th May 2023, police received a 999 call from a then-15-year-old girl, on her way to school. The girl told us that as she was making her way down Daggers Hall Lane, she was approached by McLaughlin in a van, asking for her phone number, and to borrow a lighter.

He then continued to make sexualised comments towards the girl. She walked away, immediately contacting police. McLaughlin then began to call her phone, after she gave him her number out of fear.

Later that morning, we received a report from a school in Blackpool that a student, who at the time was 14, had similarly been approached, as she made her way home from school, feeling poorly. The second victim noticed a van driving behind her on Blackpool Old Road.

McLaughlin then began to shout ‘get in, get in’ at the victim. She told him no, turned around and ran back in the direction of her school. McLaughlin reversed, turned the van around and turned towards her.

Neither girl was touched or physically harmed.

An investigation commenced, and McLaughlin was identified as the driver of the van. He was arrested on suspicion of and later charged with two counts of attempting to take a child and causing / inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Following a trial, McLaughlin, 34 of Park Way, Rochdale, was unanimously found guilty on all three counts. Yesterday (1^st May) he was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for seven years, and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years.

In a Victim Personal Statement, the first victim said: “When walking on my own, I feel a sense of fear; I feel uneasy and unsafe when I am walking alone. I am not the bubbly, happy person I was before. I don’t really go out anymore.”

A relative of the second victim said in a Victim Personal Statement: “She is scared and will not go out on her own. She gets angry but doesn’t know why. She feels like she has to put up a guard with everyone.”

DC David Fewtrell of the West Internet Child Exploitation Team, said: “McLaughlin preyed on two vulnerable girls as they made their way to or from school – a journey that every child should feel safe to do.

“He followed them, made them feel uncomfortable and scared with his words. He made perverted comments towards them. I welcome the fact that he received a custodial sentence. 

“I want to send a message to anyone who may have been a victim of any sexual offence today. If you have been a victim, please report it to us. We will listen, we will investigate, and we will do all we can to bring the person responsible to justice.”