However, it is not possible to conclude that this is representative of all group-based CSE offending. In May 2012, nine men from Rochdale were convicted and jailed for grooming girls with alcohol, drugs and gifts before forcing them to have sex with multiple men. Craving love and attention, Amber was lured into a nightmare, subjected to repeated and often violent sexual abuse. The abuse then continued, with a number of men who she had not seen before joining in. [2] One gang member convicted of sex trafficking was a religious studies teacher at a mosque and a married father of five. Five of the girls had "clearly" needed help and intervention by safeguarding agencies before the abuse began, the report said. Why has nothing happened to these men? After the trials conclusion, there were public apologies from the police, the council and prosecutors for failing the victims. It resulted in the conviction of nine men for offences including rape and human. Two worked for the same taxi firm and another two worked at a takeaway restaurant; some came from the same village in Pakistan and another two men shared a flat. They were overlooked, they were discriminated against.. Were told 84% of grooming gangs are Asian. When we met in a hotel in Rochdale last month, Amber was accompanied by Maggie Oliver, a former police detective who walked out of the job in protest at the way Amber had been treated. "[36] Narey rejected the idea that such gangs were specifically targeting white girls, but suggested vulnerable girls on the street were more likely to be white since Asian girls were subjected to strict parenting and were more likely to be kept off the streets. [21], Following the break up of the first sex ring in May 2012, the police made arrests in relation to another child sexual exploitation ring in Rochdale. She gave the police a list, at an early stage of Operation Span, with nicknames, telephone numbers and other details relating to offenders. She said that seven officers had been served with misconduct notices, but no further disciplinary action would be taken against them. Maggie spent six months speaking to the victims from Rochdale and persuaded them to give evidence. [33] After members of the Rochdale gang were sentenced, the UK's Department for Education announced new funding for a specialist foster care scheme to protect vulnerable children in residential care, where some victims had been. May stated the revocations were "conducive to the public good". Not one charged never, why? He shouted in court, "Where are the white people? Nine men have been convicted of sexually exploiting young girls in Greater Manchester. The grooming scandals in Rochdale and similar ones in other cities which involved Asian men, including Oxford and Rotherham, have fuelled fight-wing groups opposing multiculturalism and immigration. There was a "shocking" inability to protect seven vulnerable girls from sexual exploitation, a report into the Rochdale grooming case has said. In The Betrayed Girls, they speak to survivors, . He said: We now know that Rochdale was not an isolated case. It was outrageous. Man United beat West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday and we'll bring you live reaction from the match. [34], A report by The Times on 5 January 2011, related to convictions for child sex grooming in the North and Midlands. Just before the due date of her second baby, she was called to the family court, where an application was made to remove both children on the grounds that Amber was an abuser and a danger to children. In 2019, Amber, along with two other victims, with the help of the Centre for Womens Justice, issued a civil claim for damages against GMP and the director of public prosecutions (DPP). Now they werent prepared to do that. [28], Ann Cryer, Labour MP for Keighley, recalled in a BBC documentary filmed in 2012 that she had worked with the families of the victims involved, and had been "round at the police station virtually every week" and was "begging" both the police and social services to do something. Stephen Watson says force had lacked professional curiosity when it came to young victims of grooming gangs 19 Apr 2022 Rochdale victim: 'I was groomed at 14, then the courts came for my. Even when the authorities did recognise the problem, their slow reaction allowed the abusers to carry on exploiting their victims for years. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Fungus case forces Jack Daniels to halt construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, Ed Sheeran says wife developed tumour in pregnancy, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Dozens of girls treated after new Iran poisonings, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US, Man survives 31 days in jungle by eating worms. Social workers told him she was "a child prostitute", and he accepted this "because he did not know that it was wrong", the review said. [16], The trial concluded in May 2012 with the nine convictions. The mayor's office. [5], In March 2015, Greater Manchester Police apologised for its failure to investigate the child sexual exploitation allegations more thoroughly between 2008 and 2010. It made me sick to my stomach. Mohammed Amin received a five-year sentence for sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. have fuelled fight-wing groups opposing multiculturalism and immigration. The alleged offences that took place in Rochdale between 2005 and 2013 included rape, conspiracy to rape, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual activity with a child, and sexual assault. "[The police] messed up, not me. [1] Forty-seven girls were identified as victims of child sexual exploitation during the police investigation. Speaking at the conclusion of a 10-week trial at Liverpool Crown. etween 2008 and 2010, a child abuse ring that came to be known as part of the grooming gang phenomenon operated in Rochdale. It was like a casual, Oh, bring your friends. She was a vulnerable child, being sexually abused, controlled and in fear. The men who abused her have never been prosecuted. I never thought that they would do what they did to me, because you don't think that would happen.". But she added: "They're just brainwashing you so you think you love them so you do what they say. "[32], The former head of Barnardo's, Martin Narey, said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "For this particular type of crime, the street grooming of teenage girls in northern towns there is very troubling evidence that Asians are overwhelmingly represented in the prosecutions for such offences. On one of those interviews a police officer can be heard yawning while repeatedly asking why she had put herself in such a vulnerable position. One of their victims tells her story. It was absolute disrespect that vulnerable young people did not have a voice. Police failed to tell council about arrest of Rochdale grooming gang leader who was employed as welfare rights officer Casework by police and social care was "very poor" in 10 sample cases It drew statistics from organisations such as Barnardo's but the findings were considered inconclusive by expert academics because not all the figures had been compiled in the same way and ethnicity had not always been noted with each reported crime. Read about our approach to external linking. Three Girls: Maggie Oliver says known paedophiles are still abusing girls in Rochdale and authorities are 'more interested in covering up mistakes', according to one officer who was involved. Stephen Watson, chief constable of Greater Manchester police, made a personal apology to three of the Rochdale victims. "Why have I still got a criminal record? One delivered a takeaway to my house a few weeks back, she tells me. Known as the "Rochdale Grooming" case, over 1400 vulnerable children were systematically abused by gangs of men between 2005 and 2013. It revealed that some CSC staff have been subjected to disciplinary action, although no-one is thought to have been sacked. Calls to deport 'appalling' grooming trio, Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) investigated Kabeer Hassan and another man, aged 59. Nine men were convicted of sex trafficking and other offences including rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child in May 2012. Nine men of mainly Pakistani. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. ", He added that significant improvements had been made to the way child sexual exploitation is investigated and encouraged anyone with any concerns to please get in touch. As a result of police failures to respond to evidence, the men who had groomed the three children were able to continue . "It's not a normal relationship when your boyfriend is getting you to sleep with all his friends for money.". It was only when she met Oliver in early 2012 that things started to change. The convictions she received as a teen continue to hold her back to this day. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Fungus case forces Jack Daniels to halt construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, Ed Sheeran says wife developed tumour in pregnancy, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Dozens of girls treated after new Iran poisonings, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US, Man survives 31 days in jungle by eating worms. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. [32], Hilary Willmer, representing a Leeds-based support group for parents of sexually exploited girls, the Coalition for the Removal of Pimping (Crop), was quoted as saying "The vast majority [of] perpetrators are Pakistani Asians",[35] with sources inside Crop claiming a percentage as high as 80 per cent although, The Independent said that "Kurdish, Romanian and Albanian gangs were also involved". Must demonstrate independence and competence in the duties on a variety of procedures. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. "Most people would say it is crazy that there are 17 or 18 different agencies in a place like Rochdale in charge of children," he said. [36], In a BBC documentary investigating grooming young girls for sex by some Pakistani men, Imam Irfan Chishti from the Rochdale Council of Mosques deplored the practice, saying it was "very shocking to see fellow British Muslims brought to court for this kind of horrific offence. [53], On 13 March 2015, Greater Manchester Police apologised for its failure to investigate child sexual exploitation allegations more thoroughly between 2008 and 2010. To date, the CPS has not accepted any failure on its part and instead continues to herald this case as the first successful prosecution of a grooming gang. [41][42][43], Two of the convicted gang members worked at Eagle Taxis, which was taken over by Car 2000 after the scandal. "They threaten you, and you're scared of them, and that's how they make you do it.". But after a while it had been going on for so long and with so many different men, I didn't feel anything towards it anymore. A June 2008 report identified 50 children in the town at risk of sexual exploitation. Last Tuesday Amber, with two other victims of the Rochdale grooming gang, finally received an apology delivered personally by Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester police. A serious case review by the Rochdale. Nine men from Rochdale and Oldham were sentenced for up to 19 years in prison in May 2012 after being convicted of offences including rape. The networks of men come from different backgrounds: in the North and Midlands many have been British Asians; in Devon it was white men; in Bath and Bristol, Afro-Caribbeans; in London, all ethnic mixes, whites, Iraqis, Kurds, Afghans, Somalis". There were therefore many still walking free that had evaded detection. *To protect her identity the victim's name has been changed. It meant she was regarded by the prosecution as a member of the grooming gang whose members would go in the dock, even though she was not charged and would not stand beside them in court. Although a court order prevented her being named, everyone in her local community knew who she was. Even though she had been a victim, she was accused of being involved in the grooming. Of the 56 offenders convicted since 1997 for crimes relating to on-street grooming of girls aged 11 to 16, three were white, 53 were Asian of which 50 were Muslim, and most were from the British Pakistani community. Between 2008 and 2010, a child abuse ring that came to be known as part of the grooming gang phenomenon operated in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Willmer added: "We think this is the tip of the iceberg", although she cautioned against treating the matter as a race crime: "It's a criminal thing. The perpetrators would pass the girls to their friends, often to settle a debt. More arrests, and more . The probe began after a local teenager was arrested for smashing up a cabinet at the Balti . Rochdale grooming case: what really happened? At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. [7] A former Detective Constable who was investigating the grooming gangs, Margaret Oliver, resigned in 2012 in disgust of the handling of the cases by the police force and spoke out as a whistleblower to inform the public. Nine men were convicted of being part of the child sexual exploitation ring, Nazir Afzal regrets that the CPS dropped the original grooming case, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Her act of pent-up frustration in the takeaway - followed by her bravery in speaking out - was the first step, a key moment that would lead to questions about the part which racial identity played in sexual grooming of children in the town and in other places up and down the country. While this is true, Amber believes that she was used as a scapegoat. Taxi drivers with nick-names like Car Zero and Master Aziz, a pillar of Rochdale's Pakistani community known as Tiger and a Muslim preacher were . Man United beat West Ham United in the FA Cup fifth round and here are how the players rated at Old Trafford. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. She later went on to positively identify a number of offenders, which enabled charges to be brought against them all. Greater Manchester Police said officers are becoming want to make sure Payton is 'safe and well'. I think it's wrong that she be held back in this way.". You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. UK News US News World News Weird News Real Life More Hopeful TeamDogs In Your Area. "Any criminal convictions that [Daisy] has, have been as a direct consequence of the abuse and exploitation. The victims, many of whom were from difficult backgrounds and therefore particularly vulnerable, were plied with drugs, alcohol and fast food, and then taken to chill houses across the north of England to be abused. He said the investigation was looking at cases in Rochdale dating back to 2003. The apology was made after a review by the Independent Police Complaints Commission "examined the conduct and actions of 13 officers who were involved in Operation Span and the policing of Rochdale Division." Assistant Chief Constable Mabs Hussain of Greater Manchester Police told the BBC he thought while cases should be reviewed on an individual basis, now was the time for a wider, national debate in cases where young people may have been criminalised as a result of exploitation. Tellingly, he added: I believe that one of the factors that led to that was that they were not of your community or religion. "What they did to me was evil, they ripped away my dignity, my self-esteem," she said. But once the CPS advised the GMP that she was no longer seen as a suspect, she was persuaded by Oliver to begin a series of video interviews and ID parades. He said there was no doubt she was a victim of horrendous abuse and exploitation and he accepted that the police response "could and should have been better". Child sexual exploitation has been uncovered in towns, cities and counties all over the country and it affects both girls and boys from all backgrounds. To keep up with Rochdale news sign up to the MyRochdale newsletter here. had learned about the investigation but after approaching GMP we were told to hold off until the victims had been spoken to. The trial at Liverpool Crown Court in 2012 heard five girls - aged between 13 and 15 - were given alcohol, food and money in return for sex but there were times when violence was used. The investigation but after approaching GMP we were told to hold off until the victims from Rochdale and them. 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