London: Mother takes the law into her own hands - Kills her neighbor for abusing her son

A woman from London may have been convicted of killing a neighbor as a pedophile, but one of his victims revealed she was her son.

Sarah Sands, 38, who was raising her five children alone, killed 77-year-old Michael Plistend in his East London apartment weeks after learning that the man had abused young boys.

In 2015, she was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 3,5 years in prison, but her sentence was increased to 7,5 years by a court of second instance. During her trial, it was revealed that Plisted had 24 convictions for sexual offenses over a period of three decades.

"I did what any mother would do because of what she did to my son Bradley, my little boy," Sands told Britain's Sun. The woman spent almost four years in prison before being released.

"I never dreamed I could be capable, but at least I know I can not hurt anyone else. I'm not a bad person, but I know I did something wrong. I have never denied it and I have been punished. "

"I will never kill again. I do not see myself as a murderer, but I do not regret what I did. "I was a mom desperate to protect my children."

How he got to the deadly attack

"I remember taking a knife and going to Mick's house. "I wanted to persuade him to plead guilty so that Bradley would not have to testify." "Mick opened the door and smiled. He was arrogant and abrupt. "

"She was not listening to me. He was cold. "A different person than the one who was my friendly neighbor."

"I touched him with the knife and he grabbed me. I lost control. "I could not let anyone else get hurt - someone had to protect people," she said, adding that her warnings about the neighbor to police and other authorities were in vain.

No one knew about Plisten's criminal past because he had changed his name and his crimes preceded the sex offenders' register, according to the newspaper.

"I had no idea who he really was. How could; "He lied, he changed his name to attack children."

In November 2014, Bradley revealed that he had been abused. "I found him pulling his hair, shaking and crying. "He kept saying, 'I should have told you earlier - that could stop him from reaching these younger boys," according to Sands. "He was attacked in his shop and at home. I felt sick and devastated. "

Bradley, 19, said he was "very ashamed to say anything at first". "I did not want to get involved but I had nightmares that Mick would be chasing me."

"I begged them to arrest Mick again. "It was back as if nothing had happened," said Sands, who decided to take matters into her own hands.

"I drank two bottles of wine, went back to my old apartment and knelt on the floor, holding a picture of the children, screaming." According to her, "the guilt I felt because I did not protect him caught up with me. "Then I took the knife and went to Mick."

Sands stabbed Plisten eight times with a kitchen knife and told police, "Who is housing a pedophile?"

In August 2018, Sands reunited with her family and is now writing a book entitled "Loss of Control".