Jailed: 'Sinister' Essex man pretended to be 'Celine, 27' on dating site to lure Shropshire woman into his home for sex
A father who masqueraded as a young woman on a dating site so he could lure a vulnerable Shropshire woman into his Essex home for sex has been jailed.
Tom Burrows, who was 43, set up a fake profile ostensibly for a 27-year-old named Celine and began messaging a Wellington woman in her 20s, getting her to agree to meet up with 'Celine' for sex the next day.
When they began speaking in May 2020 the woman did not drive so Burrows, as 'Celine', offered to have her 'father' - himself - pick her up from Shropshire and bring her all the way to Essex so they could meet.
"The complainant agreed to leave her home in Telford and travel to Essex to begin that relationship," prosecutor John Brotherton told Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday (November 7).
"There was conversation about the complainant having sex with Celine's father [Burrows] to 'cheer him up'." The woman eventually agreed to this arrangement, the court heard.
So on May 18 Burrows drove from Chelmsford in Essex to Wellington to pick the woman up before setting off back to the southeast, stopping a number of times for comfort breaks and to buy alcohol.
After they arrived at Burrows's home and began drinking, 'Celine' messaged the woman encouraging her to initiate sexual contact with the man, and she kissed him.
"At some point in the evening the complainant realised the defendant [Burrows] was on his phone whenever 'Celine' was purporting to contact her," Mr Brotherton said.
