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 other words, victims of horrific abuse had been ignored until one of them - the girl who smashed up the takeaway - finally made her story heard. There were therefore many still walking free that had evaded detection. "We have got a number of girls in Rochdale that we believe are being abused and many of them will not talk to us and, even if they did, will not tell us about what is happening and certainly don't want to make a complaint because that means they go into the criminal justice system.". "It made me feel like I was pretty. 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. But she added: "They're just brainwashing you so you think you love them so you do what they say. One delivered a takeaway to my house a few weeks back, she tells me. This resulted in Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Doublet to investigate further claims of abuse with 19 men so far being convicted. 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 . In this case the judge did indicate his belief that the Rochdale gang had deliberately sought victims outside their own community. 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. 10:45, 3 JUL 2017. While this is true, Amber believes that she was used as a scapegoat. [53], On 13 March 2015, Greater Manchester Police apologised for its failure to investigate child sexual exploitation allegations more thoroughly between 2008 and 2010. He said: "It creates a culture of hopelessness, where the police officers think 'what's the point? It was unfortunate that it was about attitudes towards teenagers. The men led the girls to believe they were in relationships with some of them, and it was normal to have sex. Writing for HuffPost UK, chief executive Javed Khan of childrens charity Barnardos described Three Girls as absolutely vital viewing.. Rochdale grooming gang members could be deported after judges uphold ruling to strip them of British citizenship Khan, who also trafficked a 15-year-old girl to others, using violence when she. 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. [2], The victims, vulnerable teenagers from deprived, dysfunctional backgrounds, were targeted in "honeypot locations" where young people congregated, such as takeaway food shops. "[2][11] Shabir Ahmed's threatening behaviour and calling Judge Gerald Clifton a "racist bastard" resulted in him being banned from the court for the sentencing hearing. [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. 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 "They threaten you, and you're scared of them, and that's how they make you do it.". UK News US News World News Weird News Real Life More Hopeful TeamDogs In Your Area. Updated 10:45, 3 JUL 2017. A key member of the team was Detective Constable Maggie Oliver whose task was to convince the victims to speak to the police. Shabir Ahmed, who abused dozens of vulnerable teenagers, was known as "Dadd He said the actions of criminals who thought "white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused" were "bringing shame on our community. The company's owner said that due to requests, clients could choose to have a white driver but this was reversed after 50 Asian drivers protested. A serious case review by the Rochdale. Instead, when she became upset and disruptive, she was arrested and later convicted of disorderly behaviour. 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. The testimony of one of the five victims of the Rochdale grooming ring revealed the depth of the exploitation she suffered. ", "Police 'sorry' over Rochdale child sex abuse failures", "This is what happened to Three Girls whistleblower Sara Rowbotham", "Nine men found guilty of sexually abusing vulnerable girls in Rochdale", "Senior judge slams lawyers for obstructing Rochdale child sex grooming gang deportation case", "Members of paedophile gang treated victims as 'worthless', "Gang To Be Sentenced Over Child Sex Crimes", "Profiles of Child Sex Abuse Gang Members", "Rochdale Grooming Scandal Whistleblower Defends Sarah Champion And Slams Austerity", "Rochdale child sex grooming case originally dropped", "Nazir Afzal: 'We tackled grooming gangs. 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. But because of an obligation to disclose criminal convictions, she has been prevented from pursuing her chosen career. He said: We now know that Rochdale was not an isolated case. [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. [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. "You will be supported and you will be heard.". She not only suffered at the time [of the abuse] but she continues to suffer because of the criminal records. A second serious case review looked at a separate case involving a seventh girl. The testimony of one of the five victims of the Rochdale grooming ring revealed the depth of the exploitation she suffered. Finally, officers did not challenge a Crown Prosecution Service decision not to prosecute. ", Wigan driver waits to find out if he will be spared a road ban after driving at almost 100mph on the motorway, Police issue appeal to trace missing girl from Stockport, Urgent police appeal to locate missing teenage girl not seen for over 24 hours, Constance Marten's baby found in Brighton woodland Met Police say, Bolton Wanderers player Kyle Dempsey faces possible jail term - court, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon: Body found in search for missing baby, Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. A June 2008 report identified 50 children in the town at risk of sexual exploitation. The convictions she received as a teen continue to hold her back to this day. 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. "Most child sexual abuse gangs made up of white men, Home Office report says", "A new Home Office report admits grooming gangs are not a 'Muslim problem', "Rochdale sex-grooming gangs able to flourish due to police errors says report", Greater Manchester Police, Report into Rochdale CSE investigation, 13 March 2015, "No officers to be charged over Rochdale child abuse failure, say police", The Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Children Board, Review of Multi-Agency Responses to the Sexual Exploitation of Children, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rochdale_child_sex_abuse_ring&oldid=1140279348, This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 10:03. said in its review into child sexual exploitation after the trial. But wheres the evidence? "[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. Why is it me that suffers still?". She says she was never informed by police either that she was no longer being treated as a victim, or that none of those she alleged to be her abusers was to be prosecuted for her abuse. A. History was repeating itself, said Maggie. [32], Wendy Shepherd, child sexual exploitation project manager for Barnardo's in the north of England, said that since she started working with the organisation, there has been "a shift from the men selling children in ones or twos to something that is much more organised in groups and networks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. 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". What the police and CPS did to me was worse than the abuse The apology will be a kind of a weight lifted from me. But the nightmare will never really be over. An independent report commissioned by Rochdale council said three employees had spoken of victims making life choices rather than being rape victims. Nine men of mainly Pakistani. 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. [32] The inquiry issued its final report in November 2013. [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. She told me: It wasnt like a forced thing. She was being shared around paedophiles across the north of England. 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. A victim of Rochdale grooming gangs has told the BBC that convictions she received as a teenager - for offences linked to the abuse she was suffering - have destroyed her hopes of a career. But the situation changed and she was raped by one of the men. The review recommended the Greater Manchester Police establish a monitoring system and commit to maintaining a child sexual exploitation team. Mohammed Amin received a five-year sentence for sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. It's now 10 years since the start of the police investigation that led to the Rochdale grooming trial. Those failings allowed seven youngsters, and potentially dozens more later identified by police, to be exposed to a catalogue of horrific sex abuse at the hands of manipulative predators. Must demonstrate independence and competence in the duties on a variety of procedures. Molly Windsor, Liv Hill and Ria Zmitrowicz feature as a trio of girls drawn into the frightening world of sexual exploitation. Instead of being seen as a victim, Daisy was arrested and prosecuted for offences - many directly linked to the abuse she was suffering. 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. 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. She gave the police a list, at an early stage of Operation Span, with nicknames, telephone numbers and other details relating to offenders. On one occasion he ordered a girl aged 15 to have sex with Kabeer Hassan, as a "treat" for his birthday Hassan then raped the girl. 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. Social services became involved when she started to arrive at school dirty and sometimes smelling of alcohol. The investigation was suddenly scrapped with no-one arrested or charged. She later went on to positively identify a number of offenders, which enabled charges to be brought against them all. Without Ambers initial evidence there might never have been a trial at all. Two members of the grooming gang the gangs ringleader Shabir Ahmed and Kabeer Hassan were arrested and released on bail. 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. Girls aged between 13 and 15 were trafficked, prostituted, raped and assaulted by the gang. A new investigation, dubbed Operation Span, was launched. The men who abused her have never been prosecuted. The recent BBC One drama Three Girls explored the harrowing true story of the Rochdale child grooming case. 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. It resulted in the conviction of nine men for offences including rape and human. Five of the girls had "clearly" needed help and intervention by safeguarding agencies before the abuse began, the report said. 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. Five years later she won an apology and compensation from social services. "[30], Tim Loughton, the Minister for Children and Families, said that while there was no evidence that ethnic communities condoned child sexual abuse, he was concerned that some had been slow to report it to the police, and urged police and social workers not to allow "political correctness around ethnicity" to hinder their work to apprehend such criminals. Amber was also threatened at gunpoint by a man whom she subsequently identified to the police. Speaking before the airing of a new BBC1 drama, Three Girls - which tells the story of three victims in the 2012 Rochdale sex grooming case - Margaret Oliver said police had still not learned. Although police interviewed a total of 56 men on suspicion of abuse, only a handful were tried. [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. [55], Last edited on 19 February 2023, at 10:03, UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, List of sexual abuses perpetrated by groups, Post-assault treatment of sexual assault victims, "Rochdale grooming trial: gang convicted for sex trafficking", "Rochdale child sex ring case: respected men who preyed on the vulnerable", "Rochdale grooming trial: Nine found guilty of child sex charges", "Rochdale grooming trial: how the case unfolded", "Rochdale child sex ring: did political correctness delay justice? 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. 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. [17] Abdul Aziz, a married father of three, took over from Shabir Ahmed as the main trafficker and was paid by various men to supply underage girls for sex. "[32] Further research has been pursued since late 2011 by the Office of the Children's Commissioner. This reluctance was because shed been in this position before. Copley said: "We apologise to the victims and we give them our assurance that lessons have been learned, changes have been made and we are determined to use this to continue making improvements. [5] The girls were mainly White British. The probe began after a local teenager was arrested for smashing up a cabinet at the Balti . Between 2003 and 2014, Rowbotham made more than 180 attempts to alert police and social services but was told the witnesses were not reliable. 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. Nazir Afzal, the newly-appointed chief crown prosecutor for the north west, reversed the decision not to prosecute the two who had been arrested and eventually authorised the charging of ten men in June 2011. The inspector concluded the abuse could have stopped if the authorities had stepped in sooner. "He then was saying all the things he had bought for me, and he wanted something back for it. Read about our approach to external linking. "[The police] messed up, not me. Following the case in Rochdale similar cases of grooming and sexual abuse/exploitation of young girls came to light in various towns and cities across the UK. [52], In December 2013, the case review by Rochdale County was leaked, which highlighted findings from an internal police investigation. 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. Kabeer Hassan was sentenced to nine years for rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. [7] Actress Lesley Sharp played the police detective Margaret Oliver in the series. "I'm nearly 30 years old, this started when I was 12," she says. 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. [1][2], The oldest person to be convicted, Shabir Ahmed,[16] was for a while the main trafficker of the victims. In 2009, when Amber was 16, uniformed officers arrived at her mothers house, arrested her and took her to the police station. Despite one victim going to the police in 2008 to report the child grooming, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to prosecute two men, invoking the witness's lack of credibility. [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. Some studies suggest an overrepresentation of black and Asian offenders relative to the demographics of national populations. 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". 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. "It's not an excuse that's the reality of where we are. We need to remember and learn from the mistakes of the past to ensure they are not repeated. The abuse took place in Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, in the early 2000s. When police arrived, she says they did not believe her version of events. Part of HuffPost News. She noted that white male predators on the street tend to work alone. It was outrageous. Speaking to BBC Five Live, Sir Peter Fahy, chief constable of Greater Manchester, denied his officers had failed to investigate allegations of rape made by underage girls before a decision was taken not to prosecute in 2008. These involved the grooming and sexual exploitation of several girls, aged in their early teens. Sheer lack of resource, and also the fact that their bosses seemed reluctant to grasp the nettle for fear of being branded racist, contributed to delays in the investigation. After a troubled upbringing, Amber had been placed on the child protection register as being at risk of sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. News. She was being raped. I asked Amber what gave her the strength to give evidence to the police, after what she had gone through. 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." Sun Online looks at the group from Rochdale and Oldham, who exploited girls as young as 1 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. Last month we met Daisy*, who found herself at the centre of the scandal all those years ago. It was only when she met Oliver in early 2012 that things started to change. 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. [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. Police began to investigate child grooming in Rochdale almost by accident. Even when the authorities did recognise the problem, their slow reaction allowed the abusers to carry on exploiting their victims for years. Maggie Oliver was again left fuming when one of the girls she had talked round - a victim of abuse - was placed in the indictment that went before the jury. In October 2010 the M.E.N. Then, shortly after the ID parade, Oliver was told that they were no longer going to use Ambers evidence. She specifically spoke of her abuse at the hands of two members of the gang who would later be jailed four years. The abuse continued for months, until one evening she was arrested by police for smashing the counter at a takeaway where some of the men met the girls. [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. Ten months after her case had been dropped, police decided to revisit the case after more complaints emerged. Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk (Labour) said agencies had actively ignored the abuse and that "social services believed these girls were making lifestyle choices". 2023 BBC. 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. 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. Launching Operation Doublet to investigate child grooming case dropped, police decided to revisit the after! 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