[5] The girls were mainly White British. The investigation slowly built a compelling case, away from the public gaze. 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. [2], The victims, vulnerable teenagers from deprived, dysfunctional backgrounds, were targeted in "honeypot locations" where young people congregated, such as takeaway food shops. Read about our approach to external linking. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 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 told me: So it didnt happen to anybody else. Read about our approach to external linking. They werent bothered when youre from a shit home. One father called Children's Social Care (CSC) up to 50 times, reporting his daughter's "uncontrollable drinking, running away and difficult behaviour". "[39], Nazir Afzal, who as the newly appointed chief crown prosecutor decided to bring the case to trial, said that sex, not race, was the key issue: "There is no community where women and girls are not vulnerable to sexual attack and that's a fact. One night in 2006, when she was just 14, a man became aggressive after she refused to have sex with him. On 9 May 2012, the Rochdale grooming trial reached its conclusion. [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. "I got picked up so many times by the police and it was always when I was out with adult men," she says. 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". I push thoughts about the abuse out of my head. I didnt want other people to feel how I felt. Her courage and Olivers support resulted in a database of abusers whom she identified by names, car registrations, telephone numbers and addresses. 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. "I wouldn't go out of the house for nine months on my own without my mum or dad, because I was frightened," she said. The convictions she received as a teen continue to hold her back to this day. Nine men of mainly Pakistani heritage were convicted in 2012 after a long, complex trial for offences that happened in and around Rochdale in 2008 and 2009. Now they werent prepared to do that. The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The men, she said, were friendly at first, simply chatting with the girls now and again in a takeaway shop. The perpetrators would pass the girls to their friends, often to settle a debt. The picture which emerged was one of vulnerable young girls, some as young as 10, who were being targeted for sexual abuse and written off by authorities who believed the girls were making their own choices. Shabir Ahmed, who abused dozens of vulnerable teenagers, was known as "Dadd Rochdale is also being considered as part of the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse, which is examining whether authorities across the country took the problem seriously. 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. In 2017, the BBC aired the drama "Three Girls" which featured the story of . "[29] Cryer had attempted to reach the Muslim community and persuade it to take action: "I went to a friend of mine, who was a local councillor and happened to be a Muslim and therefore able to represent me to the elders, because I thought it was a good move to try to get those elders involved. A June 2008 report to Rochdale safeguarding children board had identified 50 children at risk of sexual exploitation. RN Case Manager - Case Management at Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance Hospital $20,000 hiring bonus for eligible external hires that meet required qualifications and conditions for payment She was being shared around paedophiles across the north of England. Following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court, nine men were convicted in May 2012. [45] In particular they pointed out that the inquiry by the Office of the Children's Commissioner[33] found that, while a majority of victims were white and a majority of perpetrators were men of South Asian descent, there were many cases where "perpetrators and their victims were ethnically diverse. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [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. However, Sir Peter said the report failed to confront a "fundamental" problem faced by police officers, who are repeatedly asked to track down and return young people missing from children's homes, only for them to run away again. Charity Victim Support's chief executive Javed Khan said: "It is utterly unacceptable that, instead of protecting these vulnerable young victims from sexual exploitation, the authorities judged, blamed and disbelieved them and their families and, in doing so, exposed these victims to further abuse. It made me sick to my stomach. [25] Furthermore, The Times article alleged: "with the exception of one town there is scant evidence of work being undertaken in British Pakistani communities to confront the problem" of "pimping gangs" largely consisting of "members of the British Pakistani community". The amounts listed are the base pay range; additional compensation may be available for this role, such as shift differentials, standby/on-call, overtime, premiums, extra shift incentives, or bonus opportunities. At best this was distracting for leaders and influenced the areas that resources were focused on". Actress Maxine Peake starred in the series as Sara Rowbotham, the sexual health aid worker who first uncovered the patterns of severe abuse in the area, but struggled to bring it to the attention of authorities. Her complaint was not taken seriously and she carried on being abused by the gang until December 2008 when she fell pregnant and moved away. She not only suffered at the time [of the abuse] but she continues to suffer because of the criminal records. FA Cup quarter-final draw in full as Manchester United and Man City discover opponents, Four Premier League sides remain in the competition, Manchester United vs West Ham LIVE highlights and reaction from FA Cup as Garnacho scores. Five years later she won an apology and compensation from social services. [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. Police said the victims were from chaotic, council estate backgrounds and as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang. I agreed to help the police to stop it happening to others, Amber wrote to Oliver in the midst of her campaign for justice. had learned about the investigation but after approaching GMP we were told to hold off until the victims had been spoken to. Without Ambers initial evidence there might never have been a trial at all. 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Finally, after a gruelling 18 months and several hearings, the judge threw the case out. The report also showed that more than 3,000 children under the age of 18 were reported missing in Greater Manchester in 2014. I asked Amber what gave her the strength to give evidence to the police, after what she had gone through. VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, How fake copyright complaints are muzzling journalists, How 10% of Nigerian registered voters delivered victory, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip. One 13-year-old victim became pregnant and had an abortion. [6] Sara Rowbotham, the sexual health worker who first recognised patterns of child abuse in the community and fought to bring these crimes to police attention, was made redundant in 2014. [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. [34], A report by The Times on 5 January 2011, related to convictions for child sex grooming in the North and Midlands. A second serious case review looked at a separate case involving a seventh girl. 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". "[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. 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 . Another five-year sentence was given to Abdul Qayyum for conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children, while Hamid Safi received four years for trafficking for sexual exploitation and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. She was being raped. A senior police officer has joined calls for a review on criminal records of child exploitation victims. Mohammed Amin received a five-year sentence for sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. It is committed by abusers from all walks of life, ethnicities, cultures and classes and it robs children of their childhoods and tears families apart. "[37][38] Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, accused elders of the Pakistani community of "burying their heads in the sand" on the matter of sexual grooming. Career Track: Leadership. UK News US News World News Weird News Real Life More Hopeful TeamDogs In Your Area. Behind the scenes, however, there was consternation. [2] One gang member convicted of sex trafficking was a religious studies teacher at a mosque and a married father of five. 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." After a while, the girl was being driven to different houses or flats where there would be other men waiting. She gave the police a list, at an early stage of Operation Span, with nicknames, telephone numbers and other details relating to offenders. 10:45, 3 JUL 2017. 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. The serious case review looked at six girls who suffered sexual exploitation in Heywood, Rochdale between 2007 and 2010. Police began to investigate child grooming in Rochdale almost by accident. Cryer said, "Neither the police nor social services would touch those cases. Three Girls review a brave new focus on the Rochdale child sexual abuse scandal, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. No further action was taken against Amber, but it would be another two years before the CPS agreed that she should be treated as a victim and witness rather than a suspect. [14] The CPS's original decision was overturned in 2011 when a new chief prosecutor for the region, Nazir Afzal, a first generation British-Pakistani,[15] was appointed. The abuse then continued, with a number of men who she had not seen before joining in. 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. Why's nothing happened to the police? He said the investigation was at "an extremely sensitive stage" and street grooming was the force's top priority, "a bigger priority than gun crime". 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. She noted that white male predators on the street tend to work alone. It formed a large part of the police investigation that became known as Operation Span. Social workers focused on young people's high-risk behaviour and "not their vulnerability", the latest review found. Even when the authorities did recognise the problem, their slow reaction allowed the abusers to carry on exploiting their victims for years. But wheres the evidence? A serious case review by the Rochdale Safeguarding Children Board highlighted failures by 17 agencies who were meant to protect the children. Indeed one witness, said in the course of the trial that he did not wish to be seen with young white girls in his community in Oldham.. Tellingly, he added: I believe that one of the factors that led to that was that they were not of your community or religion. Back in the police station, the girl who had just vandalised the takeaway provided a detailed account of the abuse and the perpetrators as well as evidence in the form of her underwear, which carried traces of one of her attackers' DNA. Nine men were found guilty and sentenced to a total of 77 years in prison. [1][2], The oldest person to be convicted, Shabir Ahmed,[16] was for a while the main trafficker of the victims. [52], In December 2013, the case review by Rochdale County was leaked, which highlighted findings from an internal police investigation. Finally, officers did not challenge a Crown Prosecution Service decision not to prosecute. Urgent police appeal to locate missing teenage girl not seen for over 24 hours, Taylor is thought to have links across south Manchester, "I had to look twice": Confusion as little white robot seen driving along street in Sale, "It made me laugh when it waited patiently to cross the road", Police given more time to question Constance Marten and Mark Gordon as remains found, A 36-hour extension to the pair's detention has been granted by a court, The One Show interview with Idris Elba thrown into chaos as host Alex Jones mocks show blunders, Their chat on the teatime chat show didn't run smoothly, Manchester United player ratings vs West Ham as Casemiro and Alejandro Garnacho good. "We have to remember that in most of those cases, the girls themselves did not regard themselves as victims and were not willing to make complaints and that is still the situation now," he said. I think it was because they were afraid of being called racist. [24], The case raised a serious debate about whether the crimes were racially motivated. Another night - this time in 2007 - Daisy says she was burnt with a heated metal spoon as punishment for refusing to have sex with a man at a house party. Handout pictures released by Greater Manchester police in 2012 show eight of nine men convicted in connection with the child sexual exploitation ring. He said: We now know that Rochdale was not an isolated case. "Any criminal convictions that [Daisy] has, have been as a direct consequence of the abuse and exploitation. "I've had a lot of problems in the past, suicide attempts and drinking, but now I know something is being done to prevent it happening again. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. News. At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. [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. She was vilified and nicknamed in the press as the Honey Monster. Critics say the delays meant more girls were left to be abused while the criminal justice system slowly changed its course. Girls aged between 13 and 15 were trafficked, prostituted, raped and assaulted by the gang. The arrests are in relation to one of the five girls who gave evidence at Liverpool Crown Court in the case of a child sex grooming ring in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Two members of the grooming gang the gangs ringleader Shabir Ahmed and Kabeer Hassan were arrested and released on bail. Some of the men involved were arrested, tried and found guilty. Nine men have been convicted of sexually exploiting young girls in Greater Manchester. Abdul Rauf was sentenced to six years for trafficking for sexual exploitation and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. "They threaten you, and you're scared of them, and that's how they make you do it.". 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. Oliver had been headhunted to join the grooming gangs case as detective and victim liaison officer in 2010 because of her experience working with vulnerable victims. Privacy Policy for the content of external sites the crimes were racially motivated concerned about a child 0808! 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