A group of paedophile-hunters “overstepped the mark” when they falsely imprisoned and used violence against men they suspected of being child sex offenders, a court has heard.

The group, called Predator Exposure, confronted two men on separate occasions after they had taken part in online chats with their members posing as teenagers.

One of the men was held in a headlock and physically dragged out of a shop against his will, Leeds crown court heard, while confrontations were live-streamed on social media.

Tom Storey, prosecuting, told the court: “The members of this group, and those working with them, overstepped the mark and went far beyond the bounds within which they should have operated.”

The six defendants deny the charges of false imprisonment and assault and claim they were making lawful citizen’s arrests.

The first incident happened in August 2018, when four of the defendants went to the home of a man who had taken part in online conversations with a Predator Exposure member posing as a 14-year-old.

They took the man, who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and is believed to be on the autistic spectrum, into the back garden of the house and prevented him from leaving, even when he asked to be allowed inside to fetch his medication, the court heard.

One of the defendants, Phillip Hoban, 43, can be heard on footage taken by the group calling the man a “filthy cunt” and asking him if he would prefer to be called “a nonce or a dirty bastard”, the jury was told.

The second incident took place in January 2019 when five of the defendants went to the home of another man and chased him to a nearby shop before some tried to physically drag him outside.

After the man was “bundled” outside the shop, Hoban physically held on to his clothing while calling him a “dirty, horrible bastard”, a “child rapist” and an “animal”, the jury heard.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. However, the court heard that although the prosecution accepts that their activity did amount to criminal offences, neither of them was charged.

Hoban and his son, Jordan McDonald, 19, both from Leeds, are both charged with two counts of false imprisonment and one of common assault. Jordan Plain, 26, from Leeds, and Dean Walls, 52, from Moortown, are each charged with one count of false imprisonment and one of common assault. Kelly Meadows, 40, from Leeds, is charged with two counts of false imprisonment and Christine James-Roberts, 60, from Headingley, Leeds, faces one charge of false imprisonment.

The defendants deny all the charges. The trial continues.