School running coach unmasked as Snapchat pervert who urged 'dad' to abuse 'girl'

A Wirral high school has apologised after a man who ran after school running clubs was jailed for online child sex offences. Pensby High School said former police officer Mark Smith was contracted by the school to run the club which now regrets his involvement in its extra-curricular programme.

On July 30, Mark Smith was jailed for 28 months, handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, and made to sign the sex offenders’ register for the same period. Liverpool Crown Court previously heard how Smith had urged a "dad" to sexually abuse his own child and told him "you are on an amazing journey with your daughter".

Smith begged the supposed father to engage in a catalogue of sickening sex acts with the 10-year-old girl while he watched on a video call. However he was actually being ensnared in an undercover sting.

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The 52-year-old, who went on to engage in explicit chats with decoy accounts posing as 13-year-old girls on Snapchat, later dismissed his perverted behaviour as "sexual banter" which he claimed was as a result of "boredom" following his retirement from the force. The ECHO understands he served as a sergeant with Merseyside Police.

Smith admitted two counts of encouraging a child sex offence, three charges of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, two offences of attempted sexual communications with a child, two counts of distributing indecent images of children. Before his arrest, Smith was employed as a coach within Pensby High School’s extracurricular running club, working as an external contractor.

North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), a police organisation that covers six police forces in the North West, began investigating Smith on April 29 2024 and he was arrested four days later on May 2. On the same day, the organisation contacted Wirral Council, made a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) referral, and the running club was suspended with no further sessions.

NWROCU said none of the victims in this case were pupils at Pensby High School. In late August, a letter, seen by the ECHO, was sent to parents at the school by headteacher Kevin Flanagan apologising as he “felt the need to write to the school community” following Smith’s “recent arrest and sentencing.” He said Smith “was not directly employed by Pensby.”

He added: "Once we were made aware of the allegations, running club was suspended, Mr Smith was banned from the site and all contact ceased. At this point, professionals involved in the investigation and safeguarding reassured me that all offending took place online, in effect with an undercover police officer. Clearly we were not allowed to comment on this until after sentencing had taken place.

"As we did not directly employ Mr Smith, it can be difficult to gain information as we don't automatically fall into professional discussions. However I want to publicly thank the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Pam Cope, who supported the school to ensure that we have taken all the steps we possibly could and has taken time to take me through everything we could do.

"Even though this was online offending and in a closed group, it does not however mean that there are not victims of his actions beyond the three immediately connected victims of his actions; his two children and wife, and my thoughts are with anyone touched by cases such as this.

“I am also aware that we have had a group of children who put faith in this man and took part in a running club with him. We have the registers for all the occasions when he ran the club and will talk to all the students who took part in the first few days back. This is not to ask questions or raise any concern, simply to check in on the students and offer any support they might feel they need.”

Referring to recent exam results at the school, he added: “Mr Smith did not deserve to take away from student success and the success of our whole community this summer. I apologise if you do not agree with the order of communication, but to my mind the children have to come first and he does not have the right to take that celebration away from them.

"Once again, I am sorry that he was ever in our school and we will continue to discuss and manage this process with the correct procedure and alongside all relevant authorities."

In court in July, Olivia Beesley, prosecuting, described how the pervert went on to "take an interest" in the fictitious child over the coming days. Smith - of Gorsefield Close in Bromborough, Wirral - detailed sickening sex acts he wished to perform with the girl and suggested staging a video call in which he would masturbate while the supposed dad had sex with his daughter before asking: "Would you share her at some point then?

"Do you want to watch her with other guys? So jealous, would love to play with her. You watching would be even better. If she ever visits in the week, we could do a video call."

He went on to request pictures of the daughter, and in return sent a number of indecent images of girls in school uniform and a video of a child being raped. Smith was also told the dad lived in London, and in response said travelling to the capital would be "worth it".

Smith then claimed he was also speaking to girls aged 13 and 15 online - branding the former as "good" and stating that, while she had not yet sent him explicit pictures of herself, he was "working on it". He meanwhile said the older teenager had shared images of herself engaging in sexual activity.

John Weate, defending, told the court at the time: "He is a married man. He is well aware that he is extremely fortunate to have the support of his wife and family, who have full knowledge of the extent of the defendant's offending over that two-week period. To say it was a shock to his family, and in particular his wife, two disabled daughters and parents, is an understatement.

"Once the dust settled, they remained in support of him and he is grateful for that. He is involved in volunteer work, both in relation to a local park and in respect of his involvement in a running club over a large number of years. The defendant was hospitalised following an attempt at suicide in May this year.

"The defendant has, through his actions since being arrested, shown genuine remorse. Perhaps most importantly, he is genuinely motivated to address his issues. The defendant, through me, expresses his utmost shame for his involvement as far as these allegations are concerned. He understands perhaps more than most people the significance of his involvement in the commission of these offences.

"Everything would point to this defendant being someone who would engage, cooperate and comply. The prospects of rehabilitation are such that he is likely to be someone who the court can have some confidence that would act in that way."

A spokesperson for Pensby High School said: “Safeguarding and the welfare of our school community remains our number one priority. While all relevant checks, policies and procedures were enacted during our engagement with Smith, and his offences are not connected to school activities, we regret his involvement in our extra-curricular programme.

“We regularly review our safeguarding strategy, in line with best-practice guidance set out by the Department for Education.”

Wirral Council declined to comment. The Department for Education said it does not comment on individual cases.

Detective Inspector Jon Weir from NWROCU’s Investigation team said: “The NWROCU, working with partners, is committed to protecting children from sexual abuse and those who seek to do them harm.

“We would urge any child, or young person who is a victim of sexual abuse, or anyone who knows of a child being abused, to come forward and report this to police.

“Call 999 if you suspect such an incident is in progress, or pass any other information via 101, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."