POLICE have praised the actions of a group of teenagers whose quick thinking led to the rapid arrest of sex predator Aaron Grimshaw.

They videoed Grimshaw after two of friends, who had been sexually assaulted by the 23-year-old, called for help.

Grimshaw had claimed to be a police officer and “searched” the two 16-year-olds at Tutshill Recreation Ground on the afternoon of Friday, May 22.

During tne of the girls shouted words to the effect of "no stop, I am not ok with this", and alerted their friends to what was happening.

They all gathered around Grimshaw before recording him.

In this video Grimshaw could be heard saying "she consented" and threatening to call for uniformed officers before walking off.

Police were notified of the incident later that day and Grimshaw was identified based on the video recording and clothing he was wearing.

He appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court for an initial hearing on 25 May pleading guilty to two charges of sexual assault.

He was released on bail with conditions not to have any unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 years old.

Grimshaw, who was living in Sedbury at the time of the offences, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to a total of five and a half years for these and several unrelated child sex offences.

Detective Constable Caroline George from Gloucestershire Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Team said: "I would like to thank the two victims for their courage and strength in reporting this to us and providing such clear accounts of what had occurred.

"Without this and the quick thinking of their friends to capture Grimshaw on video, we would not have been able to identify, locate and arrest him so quickly.

"I know this sentence won't take away the horrific memories they now carry; however, I hope it does allow them to move on from the horrible crimes that Grimshaw subjected them to.”

In a victim impact statement, he first girl said: ”I no longer feel safe around big crowds and sometimes I feel unsafe walking on my own, especially past men. I find it very hard to believe people are who they say they are.

"Even though I am trying to move forward, the effects on me mentally will always remain and I will always remember what he did to me.”

The second girl said: “"My last day of school was meant to be filled with fun memories with all my friends but instead got turned into a traumatic, scary and overwhelming day that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

“Although I am trying to move forward the effects are ongoing and have changed me.”

Support is available from a range of organisation for all victims of sexual abuse whether they choose to go through the criminal justice system or not.

Sexual abuse can be reported through Gloucestershire Police’s website, www.gloucestershire.police.uk or by calling the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.