An inquest has opened into the death of a Nottingham man who was caught grooming fake internet profiles of underage girls.
Nottinghamshire Coroner Mairin Casey today (Friday April 21) confirmed that the cause of Ricky Slade’s death was hanging.
Slade, 30, originally from The Meadows, was found dead at HMP Nottingham in Sherwood on February 3.
This comes after he was snared by an online ‘paedophile hunting’ group in November 2016.
He was arrested after being confronted on video by members of ‘The Hunted One’ outside Nottingham Station and later admitted four grooming charges.
Slade was on remand at the jail awaiting sentence, having briefly been on the run after failing to attend a previous hearing while on bail.
Slade was cornered outside Nottingham Station on November 19, and filmed by the group as they confronted him and revealed two underage girls he had approached online and swapped explicit messages with were in fact profiles run by them.
Police arrived soon after to arrest him and seize his phone; the video was then posted to YouTube by the group and viewed thousands of times but is no longer available on the site.
Slade admitted three charges of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, and one attempt to meet a child for sexual activity.
The first two charges related to fake profiles of girls under 13, the third of a girl aged 13-15 and the fourth in relation of a fake profile of a 10-year-old.
He was released on bail but failed to appear at a January 20 sentencing hearing, leading to a warrant being issued for his arrest.
He was placed in custody the following day and then remanded into custody at HMP Nottingham, where he was awaiting a new sentencing hearing.
A statement posted on the Facebook page of the Hunted One read: “We would like to send our heartfelt sympathies to his family (Slade’s) at this difficult time.
“Out of respect to his family, we will be removing all posts in relation to this case and request the public respect the family’s feelings at this difficult time by not leaving hurtful comments.
“With deepest sympathies from all the team at The Hunted One.”
The inquest has been adjourned until October 9 which will be held with a jury.
