A depraved paedophile who meticulously planned to travel overseas to pay for the rape of a young child has been handed a life sentence with a minimum term of twenty years behind bars.
Airport Arrest Foils Heinous Plot
Edward Gratwick, a sixty-eight-year-old radio engineer from Mitcham in south London, was arrested at Stansted Airport on the 7th of March 2025. Officers from the National Crime Agency intercepted him as he attempted to board a flight to Bucharest, Romania.
His arrest followed intelligence received by the NCA regarding a UK national communicating online about meeting to sexually abuse a nine-year-old girl. Gratwick had arranged to pay a Romanian mother to allow him to rape her young daughter, outlining in explicit detail the abuse he intended to carry out between February and March.
Abhorrent Communications and Evidence
Following his arrest, a search of his home led to the seizure of multiple electronic devices. Investigators discovered he had been using encrypted applications, including Teleguard, aTox, and Session, to communicate with offenders both in the UK and internationally.
More than one thousand three hundred indecent images of children were recovered, with six hundred and thirty-two classified as Category A, the most severe level. An NCA officer stated in October that the chat logs recovered were "some of the worst seen by specialist child abuse investigators at the NCA".
Plans to Drug Victims and Act as a 'Pimp'
The evidence revealed Gratwick was actively discussing how to sexually abuse children with individuals he believed had access to girls aged between six and ten. In these chats, he frequently referenced drugging potential victims with substances like rohypnol and GHB, which he described as "a good rape drug", to ensure they would not remember the assaults.
Bottles containing Gamma Butyrolactone, a Class B drug, were found in his refrigerator. He had sent images of these to a contact, stating, "I'll bring enough GHB so you can have some fun when I'm not there."
In a further disturbing twist, Gratwick touted himself as a 'pimp' to other paedophiles, offering to facilitate the abuse of young girls for a twenty-five per cent cut of any payment made.
Conviction and Sentencing
Edward Gratwick was found guilty of thirty-eight "abhorrent" child sexual abuse offences in October. His charges included:
- 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
- Possessing indecent images of children
At Guildford Crown Court, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of twenty years before parole consideration.
Prosecution's Statement
Robbie Weber, a Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, commented in October: "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."
This case underscores the relentless work of the National Crime Agency in intercepting and prosecuting individuals involved in the most severe forms of child sexual exploitation, both domestically and across international borders.
