Spy who infiltrated eco-warrior camp exposed as paedophile who tried to rape girl, 6

An undercover spy who thwarted eco-warriors behind the Newbury Bypass protest of the 1990s, has been convicted of trying to have sex with children as young as six. Special Branch hired a freelance agent to infiltrate a group of activists living in tunnels under the construction site and provide vital intelligence which allowed police to stealthily snatch them from the burrows. For 30 years the identity of the man who got close to campaigners such as Swampy, has remained a secret.

But the spy Edward Gratwick, has now been exposed after being convicted of 38 sickening child sex offences. The 68-year-old was arrested at Stansted Airport on March 7 while attempting to fly to Bucharest to sexually abuse a Romanian schoolgirl after making arrangements with the child’s mother. National Crime Agency officers swooped on the airport just hours after receiving the intelligence from foreign authorities. Three children have now been safeguarded, the agency said.

Gratwick had discussed plans to abuse children in the UK and abroad with multiple individuals, some of whom were parents offering their daughters for sex.

He spoke with other paedophiles via encrypted messaging apps, offering to help supply with them children in exchange for money.

In these conversations, he boasted of having sex with a nine-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic.

Gratwick’s passport showed he travelled extensively around the world including to Sierra Leone, the Dominican Republic, Morrocco, around Europe, and the USA.

Investigators said they are now investigating whether he had indeed already abused children abroad as he claimed.

When police raided Gratwick’s home in Mitcham, south London, they found 69ml of ‘date rape’ drug GBL, which is a central nervous system depressant, stashed in a fridge drawer.

During the analysis of his devices, officers found images of these bottles – which he had sent to someone he was communicating with - saying “I'll bring enough GHB so you can have some fun when I'm not there”.

In some conversations, Gratwick was clearly touting himself as a ‘pimp’, offering a service to other paedophiles. As part of his role, he told other online users he would take a 25% cut of the payment made for his part in the arrangement of the sexual abuse of young girls.

Investigators recovered a booking for an Airbnb in Bucharest for 7 to 9 March 2025, located in some chat logs between Gratwick and a contact in Romania, who stated they were the mother of a 10-year old girl. The conversations took place between February and March 2025 and contained detailed descriptions of the sexual abuse Gratwick intended to carry out when he arrived in Bucharest.

Chat logs showed the person Gratwick was talking to was concerned their house was being watched, with Gratwick asking “Do you have a time operated plug? One you can set to turn a light on and off’. He also discussed with the person a specific top he wanted the young girl to wear, stating ‘[she] will look great in the sleeveless top’.

When Gratwick was stopped at the airport, officers searched his travel bag and recovered various items including a time operated plug and a small child’s sleeveless top.

Officers discovered more than 1,300 indecent images of children (IIOC) on his devices, including 632 category A images, the most severe. He had shared some images with the people he was communicating with and in one conversation, stated the images he had were ‘not terribly extensive but a diverse library’.

On 9 March 2025, Gratwick was charged with 11 child sexual abuse offences including 10 charges of arranging the commission of child sex offence – namely the rape of a child under 13 – and was remanded into custody. He was subsequently charged with additional offences during his trial.

Last week he was found guilty of 38 charges including arranging or attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, distributing indecent images of children and possessing indecent images of children.

He is due to be sentenced on 28 November at Guildford Crown Court.

Danielle Pownall, Senior Investigating Officer at the NCA said: “The chat logs recovered from Edward Gratwick’s devices are some of the worst seen by specialist child abuse investigators at the NCA.

“Gratwick has continually denied the offences he faced, despite overwhelming and indisputable evidence, which shows his lack of remorse and disregard for the safety and welfare of children.

“I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the members of jury, who over the last six weeks have considered distressing evidence which no-one should ever have to hear. I echo the words of gratitude from Her Honour Judge Harden-Frost in light of what they have heard, culminating in guilty verdicts against Gratwick.

“Work continues with our international partners to identify those who Gratwick was engaging with and we will do everything in our power to safeguard any children from harm, wherever they are. We are grateful for the immediate response and support from UK and international partners during this investigation”.

Robbie Weber, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, said: “The abuse Edward Gratwick described inflicting on young children with other like-minded individuals was abhorrent.

“It was clear from the evidence that he was intent on harming and abusing children and was willing to pay significant sums of money to do it. Not content with satisfying his own sexual desires, he also advised and encouraged others how they could commit equally horrific crimes.

“Our Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, in collaboration with the NCA, built a comprehensive picture of his crimes, which resulted in his convictions. I would like to thank the jury in this case for their careful consideration of the harrowing evidence presented in court.

“All children have the right to feel safe and protected and I hope this conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, working closely alongside law enforcement partners, will relentlessly pursue justice and prosecute those who seek to sexually exploit children.”

Jurors at Gratwick’s trial were informed that between 1995 and 2003, he provided information to police about animal rights groups.

What they weren’t told was that in 1996, he successfully infiltrated and dismantled a group of protesters which included famed activist Swampy, and played a pivotal role in the construction of the controversial Newbury Bypass.

Hundreds of eco campaigners had flocked to Newbury and initially climbed up the trees on the site where the bypass would be built.

When specialist lumberjacks felled the trees, they dug underground tunnels and lived in them for nine months in the knowledge that heavy machinery would not be driven over them in case the tunnels collapsed and killed those inside.

At a stalemate, Thames Valley Police recruited Gratwick – a spy who worked for a private security company who had a unique skillset that would allow him to infiltrate the group.

Gratwick, who was also known as Nick, was able to gain the trust of the group’s leaders and provided crucial intel about the perfect time for police to swoop on the 10ft deep main tunnel, which was 90ft long.

In the dead of night, he told his handler that the entrance was being guarded by just one man and a woman, with a third protester asleep in the main entry shaft.

When the male protester left the tunnel to urinate, officers snatched him.

When his girlfriend came out to look for him, she was also detained – and the officers made noises to draw out the third individual.

The tunnel that had taken nine months to build was captured in a few short minutes, and Newbury Bypass was opened in 1998.

Gratwick was paid roughly £1,000 a week for his work, a small fraction of the £8million that had been spent policing the protests up to that point.

The activists were so oblivious about his true identity that he was able to use the credibility earned from the Newbury protests to later infiltrate an animal rights group demonstrating at Hill Grove cattery in Witney, Oxfordshire.

He remained undetected in the ranks of the group, passing on intelligence to the authorities, but his endeavours were less successful than in Newbury and the cattery closed in 1999 after two years of violent protests for which 350 people were arrested and 21 jailed.

Gratwick also sought to use his intelligence-gathering background as a defence in his trial, claiming that he was trying to identify paedophiles and turn them in to the authorities.

He said: “I wanted to do something about it as I have a lot of experience in intelligence and chat rooms.”

He provided his contacts with proof he had taken STD tests, photos of children being abused and evidence he had brought date rape drugs to show he was a legitimate paedophile.

“They were props of authenticity,” Gratwick told jurors. “I’m lightly kicking the wasps’ nest to see what flies out.”

Mr Johns said: “There was no indication he was in contact with anyone with a view to provide that information to authorities, he had nothing to back this up such as an evidence folder on his devices.

“We haven’t found any information which supports his case that he was trying to out sex offenders through his behaviour.

“Quite the opposite.”

Gratwick had not informed any agency of his activity nor had he ever been tasked with paedophile hunting in the past, so jurors saw through these claims and convicted him of 38 offences including arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence. He had previously admitted possessing class B drugs.

NCA senior investigating officer Danielle Pownall said: “Gratwick has continually denied the offences he faced, despite overwhelming and indisputable evidence, which shows his lack of remorse and disregard for the safety and welfare of children.

“I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the members of jury, who over the last six weeks have considered distressing evidence which no-one should ever have to hear.

“Work continues with our international partners to identify those who Gratwick was engaging with and we will do everything in our power to safeguard any children from harm, wherever they are.”