Warning: This story discusses sexual assault

A UK mum has spoken after killing the paedophile that abused her children, saying “there has to be consequences” for child sex offenders.

Sarah Sands recalled the killing in a new BBC documentary called Killing My Children’s Abuser.

Sands admitted she drank two bottles of wine before confronting convicted child sex offender Michael Pleasted, 77, in 2014.

She said she never intended to kill him, despite taking a knife, but reacted when he showed no remorse and accused her children of lying.

“I didn’t know what I was doing. I was frightened and I had made a terrible mistake. He showed no fear - and was not remorseful at all,” she told the BBC.

Michael Pleasted spent decades preying on children. Photo / BBC

“He was like, ‘Your children are lying’ – I froze. I wasn’t listening to his drawl. He came towards me. I had the knife in my left hand and he tried to grab it. I remember leaving.

“I didn’t intend it to go the way it did. I didn’t intend to kill him. Police were right to ask questions. I had taken the law into my hands.”

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Asked for their reaction when they learned what their mother had done, her three sons’ response was unequivocal, saying they were “glad” their abuser was dead.

“Hats off,” her son Bradley told the BBC when asked for his initial reaction to learning his mother had killed Pleasted.

Sands was jailed for seven and a half years for manslaughter in 2015, but served four before being released.

Pleasted had a history of abusing children going back three decades but had used a legal loophole to change his name.

Sarah Sands sobbed as she recalled the killing. Photo / BBC

Sands told BBC Breakfast that the loophole needed to be closed: “For paedophiles, if you touch children, there has to be consequences. And hiding behind name changes... it has to be taken away from them. That right to change their name has to taken away from them.”

She sobbed as she recalled the killing and the effect the abuse and her vengeance had on her family.

“I bring life into the world. It never occurred to me that I would be guilty of taking life out of the world.”

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

MALE SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVORS

Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
• If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone call the confidential crisis helpline Safe to Talk on 0800 044 334 or text 4334. (available 24/7)
• Male Survivors Aotearoa offers a range of confidential support at centres across New Zealand - find your closest one here.
• Mosaic - Tiaki Tangata: 0800 94 22 94 (available 11am-8pm)
• Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.