Bridgend Man Jailed for Child Abduction and Sexual Offences

A 21-year-old Bridgend man has been jailed after abducting an underage girl and engaging in sexual activity with her. ⚖️

Daniel Messham, of Eleanor Close, Pencoed, was sentenced to three years and four months imprisonment at Cardiff Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming, abducting a child and possession of cannabis.

The court heard Messham began speaking with the teenage victim over social media before picking her up from her home. Despite knowing she was underage, he engaged in sexual activity with her at his home.

In a disturbing incident, after the victim argued with her mother, Messham drove away with the girl despite her mother’s pleas, telling him her daughter was only a teenager. The mother pursued the vehicle and alerted police, who stopped the car 20 minutes later.

Prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins revealed that journal entries found on Messham’s phone showed he was aware of his behaviour, writing: “I will help her become a woman… This girl is clearly mentally unwell… This girl is clearly a lot younger than an adult… Are you about to take this girl’s innocence?”

In another entry, he wrote: “How can I as an adult try and convince myself that I should be dating a minor who is struggling with her mental health this much.”

Judge Paul Hobson told Messham: “Just think about that whole incident from her mother’s point of view, having her daughter taken off by a stranger, having to follow in a car, having no idea what would happen. She described it as traumatic, little wonder it’s described in that way. She was terrified of what would happen or some harm would come to her daughter.”

In addition to his prison sentence, Messham was made subject to a restraining order for 10 years, sex offender notification requirements, and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.