Child sex offender stabs himself in throat outside police station when outed

Child sex offender stabs himself in throat outside police station when outedStephen McLoughlin, 59, from Merseyside, was filmed stabbing his own throat with a knife after he was exposed by an online group sending sexually explicit messages to who he believed where childrenNewsPatrick Edrich and Tim Hanlon News Reporter14:47, 03 Apr 2026Updated 14:48, 03 Apr 2026View 3 ImagesStephen McLoughlin has been jailed(Image: LIVERPOOL ECHO)A sex offender who stabbed himself in the neck after being uncovered by an online group has vowed to never own a computer again.‌Stephen McLoughlin, 59, sent sexually explicit messages to two online accounts he believed were two schoolgirls, "Maddie and Summer", who were aged 13 and 12 respectively.‌But the reality was McLoughlin, from Kirkby, Merseyside, was communicating for a number of months with a group who used the name TFN, an acronym that stood for Travelled From Nottingham. A video was shared online of McLoughlin pulling out a knife and stab himself in the neck outside a Merseyside Police station on August 26, 2022.‌View 3 ImagesA man suffered serious injuries after stabbing himself in the neck outside a police station(Image: Liverpool Echo)READ MORE: Putin stages warning drill with nuclear forces as Trump threatens to break up NATOREAD MORE: Artemis II moon mission: Astronaut sends message of hope as Artemis II blasts out of Earth's orbit McLoughlin, who maintained he was messaging the account merely as "a joke", was convicted of a series of child sexual offences following a trial at Bolton Crown Court in February this year. Returning to the same court to be sentenced on Thursday, the judge said: "There is no doubt how far you were willing to go with this 'child' if you had the opportunity to do so."The viral video of McLoughlin outside Kirkby police station showed the confronted man reach into his car and pull out a knife before cutting his throat. While still holding the knife, McLoug...