Former police officer Danni Brooke has opened up about going undercover as a schoolgirl to catch a paedophile.
Ahead of her book release last month, The Girl For The Job: True Stories From My Life As An Undercover Cop, Brooke recalled the time she was required to cosplay as a teenager.
"At the safety briefing, they chucked the uniform at me," she told The Sun. "You can imagine the laughter, as I’m a grown woman and a mother, dressed in a tiny checked skirt, over-the-knee socks and blazer."
She went on to say how she had done "hundreds" of similar jobs before but never had a result and didn't expect the plan to work.
"I stood at the bus stop for two hours at a time. On the last day, I saw a man looking at me, but because I had been shocked at the number of men who heckle schoolgirls every day, I didn’t think anything of it.
"My phone rang and the senior investigating officer told me we were ending the job."
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As the job ended, Brooke recounted the man pulling her to the ground, getting on top of her and "exposing himself."
"The safety team swooped in about 30 seconds, although it felt a lot longer to me," she said.
The man was later revealed to be a convicted sex offender with a wife, children and a pregnant mistress at the time.
Brooke also opened up to True Geordie on his podcast about the horrific ordeal, calling the man one of the worst people she had ever encountered.
While Brooke's work was awarded a commissioner’s commendation, she said it was a parent's letter that really touched her.
"One of the mums wrote me the most incredible letter saying her daughter doesn’t wet the bed any more, no longer needs sleeping tablets and was almost back to her normal self," she said.
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