"Eventually I moved out of the area as I couldn't stay there anymore.". A senior police officer has joined calls for a review on criminal records of child exploitation victims. 2023 BBC. Assistant Chief Constable Dawn Copley said that, at the time of the earlier investigation, "there was a strong target driven focus, predominantly on serious acquisitive crime. Adil Khan was sentenced to eight years for the same offences. 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". ", "Lesley Sharp: 'What happened to the girls in Rochdale is never far from my mind', "British-Pakistani researchers say grooming gangs are 84% Asian", Failing victims, fuelling hate: challenging the harms of the 'Muslim grooming gangs' narrative. She had worked on Operation Augusta in 2004 which examined the sexual abuse of white girls by Asian men in Hulme and Rusholme. [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. Now they werent prepared to do that. [2][3][4] The men were British Pakistanis, which led to discussion on whether the failure to investigate them was linked to the authorities' fear of being accused of racial prejudice. Nine men between 24 and 38 years old were arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a child. The report also showed that more than 3,000 children under the age of 18 were reported missing in Greater Manchester in 2014. The review acknowledged that police officers might have discriminatory attitudes towards the victims, that the victims were interviewed by detectives without training in child exploitation and no strategy when victims returned to their abusers. As a result of police failures to respond to evidence, the men who had groomed the three children were able to continue . 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. "[54], One of the seven officers retired without any sanctions being taken, even though his misconduct was found to have warranted disciplinary action. The government would not comment on the Rochdale case but said it had deported more than 51,000 foreign national offenders since 2010. Not just once - but repeatedly - by a gang of men who would ply her with vodka and threaten her with violence unless she succumbed to horrific abuse. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Nazir Afzal, chief prosecutor in the North West - who overturned the original CPS decision not to prosecute over allegations of abuse in 2009 - said: "I absolutely accept that things didn't go well for us and other agencies. 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. Officers on the Rochdale division were under pressure at the time to hit volume crime targets like bringing down the number of burglaries and were overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the grooming problem they had uncovered. "It made me feel like I was pretty. After a troubled upbringing, Amber had been placed on the child protection register as being at risk of sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. Social workers focused on young people's high-risk behaviour and "not their vulnerability", the latest review found. She specifically spoke of her abuse at the hands of two members of the gang who would later be jailed four years. 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. They had to be assured that, as victims of sex crimes, they would be guaranteed anonymity for life. He said: We now know that Rochdale was not an isolated case. NINE men who ran the Rochdale child sex abuse ring were eventually jailed for a string of offences in 2012. "The biggest issue to come out of this report is that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) were effectively discriminating against poor, white, working-class girls, so that's not about a failure to spot abuse, that is about actively ignoring abuse that was going on when it was brought to their attention," he said. Nine men have been convicted of sexually exploiting young girls in Greater Manchester. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. [32] Ella Cockbain and Helen Brayley pointed out, "There is no criminal offence of 'on-street grooming' and as a result it is very difficult to measure the extent of the crime based on court statistics. "Even though I was kicking and screaming in the back [of the police van] saying 'he's hit me or he's raped me', I was always the one that got arrested. She continued to receive phone calls from her abusers, and cars with drivers she recognised were parking outside. The grooming and subsequent abuse - which centred around the town of Heywood - began when the woman, now aged 19, was a 15-year-old schoolgirl. A new investigation, dubbed Operation Span, was launched. I agreed to help the police to stop it happening to others, Amber wrote to Oliver in the midst of her campaign for justice. But before what turned out to be the final interview, Oliver says she started to notice a change in tone from senior officers, and felt they were now deliberately trying to push this victim away. [22] Suggestions emerged that police and social work departments failed to act when details of the gang emerged for fear of appearing racist, and vulnerable white teenagers being groomed by Pakistani men were ignored. "I felt let down," she said. File on 4 - Groomed, abused and put in prison: Rochdale's untold story will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 14 July at 20:00 BST and repeated on Sunday 19 July at 17:00 BST. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. [7] Actress Lesley Sharp played the police detective Margaret Oliver in the series. In October 2010 the M.E.N. In a disused hotel ballroom just off the M60 in Greater Manchester, she describes to us how the authorities knew she was at risk, but failed to stop the abuse. [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 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. But wheres the evidence? "[The police] messed up, not me. "[3], Sayeeda Warsi, co-chairperson of the Conservative Party, in an interview with the Evening Standard, said "You can only start solving a problem if you acknowledge it first," and added, "This small minority who see women as second class citizens, and white women probably as third class citizens, are to be spoken out against." Without Ambers initial evidence there might never have been a trial at all. She plans to become a social worker, partly due to the ordeal she suffered while still a vulnerable young girl. BBC Ones new drama Three Girls launched on Tuesday to five million viewers. Nine men were found guilty and sentenced to a total of 77 years in prison. [1][8] Most of the men were married and well-respected within their community. I think it's wrong that she be held back in this way.". The ID parades were particularly gruelling for Amber, who did 12 in one day alone, correctly identifying 10 of her abusers. Furious, Maggie vowed never to be part of such an investigation in future. After the court case, social services started to pursue Amber, with the aim of having her children removed. "[32] Further research has been pursued since late 2011 by the Office of the Children's Commissioner. 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. Why is it me that suffers still?". 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. It was then she told police for the first time what was going on. It was outrageous. 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. 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. [25], The findings have been questioned by researchers Ella Cockbain and Helen Brayley, from whose work for the UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science The Times report had drawn much of its evidence. Sir Peter Fahy said some girls 'don't want to make a complaint because that means they go into the criminal justice system'. He said that of convictions involving child sexual exploitation, 87% were of British Pakistani men and it was a significant problem for that community. 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. While GMP has finally settled the claim, which includes the personal apology from the chief constable, the DPP has so far resisted. She later went on to positively identify a number of offenders, which enabled charges to be brought against them all. Nine men of mainly Pakistani. She gave the police a list, at an early stage of Operation Span, with nicknames, telephone numbers and other details relating to offenders. UK News US News World News Weird News Real Life More Hopeful TeamDogs In Your Area. Harriet Wistrich, director of the Centre for Women's Justice, is supporting Daisy in a civil action against Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. However, it is not possible to conclude that this is representative of all group-based CSE offending. "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 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." In 2009, when Amber was 16, uniformed officers arrived at her mothers house, arrested her and took her to the police station. [53], On 13 March 2015, Greater Manchester Police apologised for its failure to investigate child sexual exploitation allegations more thoroughly between 2008 and 2010. But when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) reviewed the case in summer 2009, it was decided that the girl "would not be viewed as a credible witness" - a decision not appealed against by GMP - and no prosecution was brought. 2023 BBC. Handout pictures released by Greater Manchester police in 2012 show eight of nine men convicted in connection with the child sexual exploitation ring. It took police 11 months to compile a file of evidence for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after interviewing the young victim from the takeaway on four separate occasions. When a local teenager was caught smashing up a glass chiller at the Balti House takeaway in Heywood in August 2008, police dismissed it as a simple act of vandalism. [31], In late 2011, the Office of the Children's Commissioner began a two-year long inquiry into child sexual exploitation by street gangs. "[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. 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'. 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. It was not until summer 2011 that Nazir Afzal, the new regional head of the CPS, reversed the decision not to prosecute. Later, Rochdale sexual health worker Sara Rowbotham told an inquiry that all the girls had been treated appallingly by protective services. The convictions she received as a teen continue to hold her back to this day. "Why have I still got a criminal record? [41][42][43], Two of the convicted gang members worked at Eagle Taxis, which was taken over by Car 2000 after the scandal. The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. Man United beat West Ham United in the FA Cup fifth round and here are how the players rated at Old Trafford. The grooming case seemed ripe for exploitation: all the girls were white, all the accused were Asian Muslim men, and they had displayed a searing contempt for their victims. [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. Read about our approach to external linking. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. 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. She said that seven officers had been served with misconduct notices, but no further disciplinary action would be taken against them. 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