[20], Four of the convicted, Shabir Ahmed, Adil Khan, Abdul Rauf and Abdul Aziz, who had dual British and Pakistani citizenships, were denaturalized (stripped of their British citizenship) by then Home Secretary Theresa May in order for them to be deported to Pakistan. "They threaten you, and you're scared of them, and that's how they make you do it.". "It will always be there, but I know how to deal with it," she said. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Two of the women's cases formed the basis of the BBC drama Three Girls. [34], A report by The Times on 5 January 2011, related to convictions for child sex grooming in the North and Midlands. On one occasion, she was picked up by police on the moors, miles outside Manchester, and told officers she told a man she did not want to sleep with him and he had taken her coat, thrown orange juice over her, and left her to walk home with no socks or shoes on. Perhaps this week you could include something agitating hundreds of thousands of people. He said that of convictions involving child sexual exploitation, 87% were of British Pakistani men and it was a significant problem for that community. "[35] By May 2012, according to The Independent, Crop had "gone suddenly silent" concerning the percentage of abusers of Asian origin who had come to the organisation's attention: Willmer explained to the paper: "We've been accused of being a cover for the BNP". Ringleader Shabir Ahmed was originally handed a 19 year sentence which was upped to 22 years for repeatedly raping a girl. Business. Also cited were a lack of managerial oversight in 2008 and 2009 and lack of resources and managerial support for the investigations despite formal requests. In 2012 nine men were jailed for their part in a child sexual exploitation ring in Rochdale. These involved the grooming and sexual exploitation of several girls, aged in their early teens. 'NO REMORSE' Rochdale grooming gang paedophiles launch ANOTHER appeal to stay in UK. The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. Grooming victim: "What they did to me was evil. Former Det Con Maggie Oliver, who resigned in 2012 to turn whistleblower over the force's failings, said she was pleased with the outcome. Id been used. [23], In March 2015, ten men aged between 26 and 45 were charged with serious sex offences against seven females aged between 13 and 23 at the time. It was outrageous. The uncomfortable truth would eventually come out despite the botched original police investigation which concluded the girl, who would later become the prosecutions star witness, was not credible. [9] The men were aged between 24-59 and all knew each other. 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. "[40], Hindu and Sikh groups have objected to media use of the "Asian" description saying that the culprits were "almost always of Pakistani origin" and "Muslim". Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? It made me sick to my stomach. Operation Span was the investigation launched in December 2009 into allegations made against the individuals who were convicted in 2012, and others. Two members of the Rochdale grooming gang are set to be deported to Pakistan after a seven-year legal battle following a ruling by immigration judges. The testimony of one of the five victims of the Rochdale grooming ring revealed the depth of the exploitation she suffered. [7] Actress Lesley Sharp played the police detective Margaret Oliver in the series. Team Management: Establish & manage globally distributed, co-located, virtual, cross-functional, high performing self-organizing teams leveraging onsite-offshore delivery models. The men from Rochdale and Oldham were found guilty of offences including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. [53], On 13 March 2015, Greater Manchester Police apologised for its failure to investigate child sexual exploitation allegations more thoroughly between 2008 and 2010. Her mother was not allowed to be with her during the interview, and there was no mention of an appropriate adult. Leeds man Robert Glendinning was jailed at Bradford Crown Court yesterday after a judge heard details of his repeated abuse of the children in the late 1970s. "We would get free alcohol and cigarettes, food, free taxis," she said. What happened to the Rochdale grooming ring and how many men were found guilty in the child sex abuse scandal? For other inquiries, Contact Us. They ripped away all my dignity". [16], The trial concluded in May 2012 with the nine convictions. She had a knack of speaking on a human level to estate kids and she was head-hunted by her bosses to persuade them to give evidence in the trial despite the woeful original investigation. [25][26][27] A report by the deputy children's commissioner in 2012 said that 33% of child sex abuse by gangs in Britain was committed by British Asians, where Asians are 7% of the population, but concluded that it was "irresponsible" to dwell on the data. The skinny 15-year-old girl was arrested and taken to the police station but then spent six hours pouring her heart out about precisely why she had acted in such an antisocial manner. [44], One study suggested that the British media's portrayal of South Asian men as perpetrators of sexual violence against white victims is an example of a moral panic. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) investigated Kabeer Hassan and another man, aged 59. [52], In December 2013, the case review by Rochdale County was leaked, which highlighted findings from an internal police investigation. 08 April 2021 The Rochdale grooming scandal was one of the most horrific cases of child sexual abuse in recent times. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. In some cases those girls were raped, callously, viciously and violently. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. Hamid Safi, then 22 and of no fixed address, was convicted of trafficking girls for the purposes of sexual exploitation and sentenced to four years. She later went on to positively identify a number of offenders, which enabled charges to be brought against them all. Rauf, a father-of-five, trafficked a 15-year-old girl for sex, driving her to secluded areas to have sex with her in his taxi and ferry her to a flat in Rochdale where he and others had sex with her. Blind to his grooming, the girls were soon trapped in a terrifying cycle of sexual and physical abuse. Wide elastic waistband with black edging. As a responsible publication the M.E.Ns editors respected this request from senior detectives at GMP and eventually our story was published a few months later. But in court, she was portrayed by the prosecution and defence as an assistant pimp. She added: "The danger with saying that the problem is with one ethnicity is that then people will only be on the lookout for that group and will risk missing other threats. Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation: Characteristics of Offending Page 2 of 57 Operation Retriever 42 Operation Brooke 44 . Abdul Rauf, then 43, of Rochdale, was convicted of trafficking a child within the UK for sexual exploitation and received six years. [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. 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. View our online Press Pack. He said: We now know that Rochdale was not an isolated case. The women, who were abused as children, brought a legal claim against the police force, The men plied their victims with drink and drugs and "passed them around" for sex. The woman now wants her story to be told to help people spot the signs of grooming, which she describes as "a common thing that not enough people know about". . Speaking in 2012 Judge Gerald Clifton said the men treated the girls "as though they were worthless and beyond respect". [citation needed], Twelve men were initially charged with sex trafficking and other offences including: rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Maggie spent six months speaking to the victims from Rochdale and persuaded them to give evidence. [46], The Rochdale case was one of several cases which prompted investigations looking into the claim that "the majority of the perpetrators have been British Pakistani"; the first was by Quilliam in December 2017, which released a report entitled "Group Based Child Sexual Exploitation Dissecting Grooming Gangs", which claimed 84% of offenders were of South Asian heritage. Convicted rapist who murdered one woman and attempted to murder another. Afterwards, she told me: I went home, put it to the back of my mind to be honest. Rochdale grooming scandal Nine men who abused girls as young as 13 were convicted over a child sex grooming ring, guilty of 21 counts of sexual abuse over a two-year period. [8], Some gang members told the court the girls were willing participants and happy having sex with the men. 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". It is worth remembering though that none of it would be happening without a frightened, angry girl who had been raped venting her rage in a takeaway in Heywood and then being courageous enough to speak about what had happened. She plans to become a social worker, partly due to the ordeal she suffered while still a vulnerable young girl. Molly Windsor, Liv Hill and Ria Zmitrowicz feature as a trio of girls drawn into the frightening world of sexual exploitation. The women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met Chief Constable Stephen Watson to be given the apology for police failings. 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. Video, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, Harry: I always felt different to rest of family, US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, Walkie Talkie architect Rafael Violy dies aged 78. "I was scared telling them, because I didn't know what the consequences would be from the men. Grooming gangs were able to operate unchallenged, to do part of their work in public spaces, with the confidence of being unchallenged due to cultural sensitivities. I trusted police that I would be helped this time. Aziz was jailed for nine years in 2012, for conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child by penetrative sex and trafficking for sexual exploitation a 15-year-old girl. The court heard how the men - eight of Pakistani origin and one from Afghanistan - gave their victims drink and drugs before passing them round for sex. "[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. After a troubled upbringing, Amber had been placed on the child protection register as being at risk of sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. [13], As a result of the CPS dropping the case, the police halted their investigation, which was resumed when a second girl made complaints of a similar nature in December 2009. A new investigation, dubbed Operation Span, was launched. The organisation defined underage grooming as any situation where a child or young person received a gift in exchange for sexual favours. Some studies suggest an overrepresentation of black and Asian offenders relative to the demographics of national populations. The legal documents involved in the case revealed one of the women, who was 12 at the time, was passed around "like a ball" between "thousands" of men for rape and sexual abuse. Read about our approach to external linking. At the time, she was living with an older victim but when she became pregnant by one of the men, she moved back in with her parents. [47] However this report was "fiercely" criticised for its unscientific nature and poor methodology by child sexual exploitation experts Ella Cockbain and Waqas Tufail, in their paper "Failing Victims, Fuelling Hate: Challenging the Harms of the 'Muslim grooming gangs' Narrative" which was published in January 2020. What's the least exercise we can get away with? She said that seven officers had been served with misconduct notices, but no further disciplinary action would be taken against them. Greater Manchester Police have arrested a number of suspects involved in historical grooming gang crimes committed against women between 2002 and 2006 in Rochdale, England, one of the country's most notorious grooming gang epicentres. It emerged at the immigration tribunal hearing in London, Aziz had already been told he will not be stripped of his UK citizenship and deported. It was reported he would be deported back to Pakistan following the conclusion of his sentence. [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. The three-part series tells the story of the victims of an infamous child grooming and sex trafficking scandal in Rochdale, and continues on Wednesday night. Aziz had renounced his Pakistani citizenship on 13 July, 2018, six years after he was jailed, but just days before the Court of Appeal ruled he could be deprived of his UK citizenship. he'd been at a trump rally in the states under lockdown rules. 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. Sun Online looks at the group from Rochdale and Oldham, who exploited girls as young as 13. 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. Police seized the foetus as evidence, but she was not notified, nor was her mother or any responsible adult. I think it was because they were afraid of being called racist. Even though she had been a victim, she was accused of being involved in the grooming. The report also showed that more than 3,000 children under the age of 18 were reported missing in Greater Manchester in 2014. One delivered a takeaway to my house a few weeks back, she tells me. The victims were coerced and bribed into keeping quiet about the abuse by a combination of alcohol and drugs, food, small sums of money and other gifts. It was then she told police for the first time what was going on. "He then was saying all the things he had bought for me, and he wanted something back for it. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Details. Cast list: Playbook is told Theresa May, Hunt and Deputy PM Dominic Raab all plan to go to Windsor. Find a Job Ive got a box in the back of my head, and I just put it all in there and its locked away.. In December 2013 a further five men were jailed after an investigation into the sexual abuse of a girl was reopened following the exposure of police failings. Shed been the victim of abuse from the age of 14. Lawyers for the victims - one who was aged 14 and two who were just 12 at the time of the abuse - successfully argued their human rights were breached by the force failing to protect them. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. This eventually led to the successful prosecution of nine men for offences included rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Amber was understandably reluctant to trust the police. While GMP has finally settled the claim, which includes the personal apology from the chief constable, the DPP has so far resisted. One example mentioned was the issue of child protection for one of the victims, which was discussed in 40 meetings, without any record of police attendance. And more than that, she was among a band of white girls who were being specifically targeted by a gang of largely Pakistani-heritage men because, as the trial judge would later acknowledge, the mens victims were not of your community or religion. Their treatment encompasses a range of catastrophic errors in one of the countrys most harrowing child sexual abuse scandals. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. I shouldve been helped, not punished.. Now they werent prepared to do that. There was a string of different inquiries into what went wrong. The taxi driver was said in court to have taken over as the main trafficker of the girls. 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). Mohammed Amin, 45, of Falinge, was convicted of sexual assault and received a five-year jail term. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Environmental-friendly TPU material, and special processing that makes it more transparent and crystal. [32], In 2011, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre launched a five-month long investigation into whether there was a link between racial profile and the crime of underage grooming. The vile group exploited girls as young as 13 and were initially given sentences ranging from four to 19 years. BBC Ones new drama Three Girls launched on Tuesday to five million viewers. Jailing them, Judge Gerald Clifton said: You have all been convicted by the jury after a long trial of grave sexual offences which were committed between the spring of 2008 and 2010. The BBC reports Kabeer Hassan, then 25, of Oldham, was sentenced to nine years for rape and three years, concurrently, for the conspiracy conviction. There were fears that press involvement would frighten the girls away. Handout pictures released by Greater Manchester police in 2012 show eight of nine men convicted in connection with the child sexual exploitation ring. But she changed her mind when Operation Span came knocking and she was given cast iron assurances the victims would be supported. He continued: "GMP could and should have done much more to protect you and we let you down.". I gave hours of interviews, reliving all the abuse. The report added that professionals repeatedly said the victims had it 'in their power' to stop the abuse 'suggesting this was something they could choose not to do'. The men from Rochdale and Oldham were found guilty of offences including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Sign up and we will email you daily with the best of our political and news coverage while also giving you a taste of our most-popular lifestyle, opinion and personal blogs. said in its review into child sexual exploitation after the trial. "[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. [1][8] Most of the men were married and well-respected within their community.