I WENT UNDERCOVER TO CATCH A PERVERT

Clare* 37, thought that she'd met a wonderful man, but he turned out to be anything but...

- FIONA FORD

Lugging shopping bags out of the boot, my daughter Liv, then 12, pushed open the front door. ‘Go on, Mum. What have you got to lose?’ she teased. It was late 2019, and Liv was convincing me to join a dating app.

I’d not long broken up with her dad, and wasn’t looking for love, but, while I enjoyed being a single mum, it could be lonely.

‘Keep out of my love life,’ I laughed, traipsing behind her into the kitchen.

Since her dad left, Liv had been amazing – mucking in around the house and helping with the shopping. Now,much to my amusement, she was trying to find me a man. Later, after some thought, I wondered if she had a point. I was only 33, and what was the harm in dating again? So I gave Liv permission to sign me up to some dating apps.

‘Look, I’ve chosen some nice pics,’ she said, showing me a profile she’d created. She’d written me a bio too: ‘Single mum, who enjoys cosy nights in with Netflix.’

‘Now, wait for the messages,’ she said.

NICE MAN

Later, I scrolled through hundreds of men were clearly just after one thing! Only, then a man named Joe sent a message, introducing himself. Before

‘I really think we have something special,’ he wrote. 

Blushing, I typed out a reply, ‘You know how to make a girl feel good!’

It was during lockdown and we flirted for six months, exchanging photos before eventually spending hours talking over video calls.

He lived nearby, had a son from a previous relationship, and worked for a Christmas tree business. Yet while things were hotting up, I was still cautious.