Read about our approach to external linking. The BBC drama Three Girls was based on the Rochdale child sexual abuse scandal. After a troubled upbringing, Amber had been placed on the child protection register as being at risk of sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. "I feel relieved that finally, after an all-consuming 10-year battle, GMP have at last acknowledged their horrific treatment of these three victims was wrong, even inhumane," she said. Two members of a Rochdale grooming gang are to be deported to Pakistan after losing a seven-year legal fight to remain in Britain. In 2009, when Amber was 16, uniformed officers arrived at her mothers house, arrested her and took her to the police station. Tellingly, he added: I believe that one of the factors that led to that was that they were not of your community or religion. After a while, the girl was being driven to different houses or flats where there would be other men waiting. 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'. She specifically spoke of her abuse at the hands of two members of the gang who would later be jailed four years. Thin, fits your phone perfectly and provides maximum protection with slim appearance and ligh 5 10 days ago 2 Carlube silicone spray 13 miles | Bolton, Manchester "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. [2] One gang member convicted of sex trafficking was a religious studies teacher at a mosque and a married father of five. 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. While GMP has finally settled the claim, which includes the personal apology from the chief constable, the DPP has so far resisted. It was said he came to the UK on a lorry in 2008 and claimed asylum and would be deported to Afghanistan at the end of his sentence. If such people know they have been 'rumbled', and they will sense it by the way people look at, behave and react to them, it will help disrupt their activities. I felt sick, got upset nothing never no one from police came to me to explain why I was no longer going to court. Adil Khan (left) and Qari Rauf (right) were jailed in 2012 for a catalogue of serious child sex offences. Some of you acted as you did to satiate your lust, some of you to make money, all of you treated them as though they were worthless and beyond respect.. 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. She was later forced into prostitution and at 13, became pregnant by one of the men, Adil Khan, and had an abortion. Mohammed Sajid, then 35 and of Rochdale, was convicted of one count of rape, sexual activity with a girl under 16 and trafficking for sexual exploitation and was jailed for 12 years. Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation: Characteristics of Offending Page 2 of 57 Operation Retriever 42 Operation Brooke 44 . Three trials were conducted where jurors were told of how these men preyed specifically on young girls under the age of 16 from vulnerable backgrounds. 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. But wheres the evidence? Mohammed Sajid was sentenced to 12 years for rape, sexual activity with a girl under 16, trafficking for sexual exploitation and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. Nothing happened. 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. Two men who were part of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang have lost an appeal against deportation back to Pakistan following a seven-year legal . 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. 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. 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.. 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. It was then she told police for the first time what was going on. The men from Rochdale and Oldham were found guilty of offences including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Critics say the delays meant more girls were left to be abused while the criminal justice system slowly changed its course. 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. Finally, after a gruelling 18 months and several hearings, the judge threw the case out. She was later burnt repeatedly with a heated spoon when she refused to comply with the demands of a group of men, but was accused by police of inflicting the wounds on herself and arrested for disorderly behaviour. [2], The victims, vulnerable teenagers from deprived, dysfunctional backgrounds, were targeted in "honeypot locations" where young people congregated, such as takeaway food shops. "It will always be there, but I know how to deal with it," she said. This resulted in Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Doublet to investigate further claims of abuse with 19 men so far being convicted. The testimony of one of the five victims of the Rochdale grooming ring revealed the depth of the exploitation she suffered. "[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. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In October 2010 the M.E.N. According to legal documents, there was growing evidence from the early 2000s that gangs of predominantly Asian men were grooming, trafficking and sexually abusing mostly white working-class girls in the town. They werent bothered when youre from a shit home. Police drove her home and told her they could not do anything because they did not have the man's name. History was repeating itself, said Maggie. Police said the victims were from chaotic, council estate backgrounds and as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang. Maggie spent six months speaking to the victims from Rochdale and persuaded them to give evidence. 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You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk, Grooming gang member complains over treatment, Anger as child grooming gang member seen in town, Calls to deport 'appalling' grooming trio, Grooming trio to lose British citizenship, Higher Broughton: Stabbing outside McDonalds leaving boy injured, BREAKING: Boy, 15, in a serious condition after stabbing outside McDonalds, Firefighters tackle waste fire in Milnrow after 'explosion', Delays on M62 Westbound near Birchwood after vehicle overturned, Bolton: Five charged on suspicion of drug crimes, Met Office snow and weather forecast for where you live in Greater Manchester, China looks at reforms to deepen Xi's control, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Although police interviewed a total of 56 men on suspicion of abuse, only a handful were tried. It was reported he would be deported back to Pakistan following the conclusion of his sentence. As a result of police failures to respond to evidence, the men who had groomed the three children were able to continue . They contend that clouding the issue by calling them "Asians" is unfair towards other groups and detrimental to a frank discussion. And Ive done nothing wrong I was a victim of these men at the age of 14. Social services became involved when she started to arrive at school dirty and sometimes smelling of alcohol. Pat Hurst, PA. October 26, 2022, 12:21 PM. [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? [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. 2 pairs of Gents White briefs with elasticated front pouch. There was a complete lack of understanding of the world in which they existed. She later went on to positively identify a number of offenders, which enabled charges to be brought against them all. BBC Ones new drama Three Girls launched on Tuesday to five million viewers. [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. Shed been the victim of abuse from the age of 14. A SURVIVOR of a Rotherham grooming gang says she knew all along a teenager was posing as a "fake" victim of sexual abuse. 08 April 2021 The Rochdale grooming scandal was one of the most horrific cases of child sexual abuse in recent times. 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We are a 3-branch practice, in the middle of the Sperrin Mountains, with only a 40-minute drive to our stunning North Coast and Glens, 40-minute drive to our airports and 40-minute drive from the hustle and bustle of Belfast or Derry city life. 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. She noted that white male predators on the street tend to work alone. Kabeer Hassan was sentenced to nine years for rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. [35] "The citations are correct but they have been taken out of context," Cockbain told The Independent; "Nor do they acknowledge the small sample size of the original research, which focused on just two large cases." 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. Mohammed Amin, 45, of Falinge, was convicted of sexual assault and received a five-year jail term. 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". [17], Victims were physically assaulted and raped by as many as five men at a time,[1] or obliged to have sex with "several men in a day, several times a week". [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. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. The women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met Chief Constable Stephen Watson to be given the apology for police failings. The ringleader, 59-year-old Shabir Ahmed, claimed the girls were "prostitutes" who had been running a "business empire" and it was all "white lies". 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. The abuse took place in Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, in the early 2000s. Some studies suggest an overrepresentation of black and Asian offenders relative to the demographics of national populations. To keep up with Rochdale news sign up to the MyRochdale newsletter here. We need to remember and learn from the mistakes of the past to ensure they are not repeated. The men, she said, were friendly at first, simply chatting with the girls now and again in a takeaway shop. Nine men between 24 and 38 years old were arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a child. Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 52, had fought the deportation on human . Grooming victim: "What they did to me was evil. Three Girls tells the true, harrowing tale of young girls being groomed in Rochdale BBC The dramatisation tells the story of three children who were victims in the scandal and stars Maxine Peake. She said that seven officers had been served with misconduct notices, but no further disciplinary action would be taken against them. Lawyers for Rauf said the law demands consistency of treatment and although Rauf could regain his Pakistani nationality simply by signing a form, he refuses to do so because he does not want to be deported. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. Handout pictures released by Greater Manchester police in 2012 show eight of nine men convicted in connection with the child sexual exploitation ring. Research has found that group-based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white. [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. Two girls aged 13 and 15 and a 13-year-old boy were groomed by the three men between September and October 2014 after repeatedly going missing from care. She continued to receive phone calls from her abusers, and cars with drivers she recognised were parking outside. Amber was understandably reluctant to trust the police. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? He said the actions of criminals who thought "white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused" were "bringing shame on our community. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. "[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 Serious Case Review published in 2013 concluded that the authorities 'struggled to empathise' with the girls, partly because they were from poor backgrounds, giving them a 'skewed picture of their behaviour'. . Writing in The Guardian, Cockbain and Tufail wrote of the report that "The two-year study by the Home Office makes very clear that there are no grounds for asserting that Muslim or Pakistani-heritage men are disproportionately engaged in such crimes, and, citing our research, it confirmed the unreliability of the Quilliam claim". 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. She walked out, refusing to go along with this decision, and was forbidden from speaking to Amber. Perhaps this week you could include something agitating hundreds of thousands of people. There were therefore many still walking free that had evaded detection. After the trials conclusion, there were public apologies from the police, the council and prosecutors for failing the victims. "We would get free alcohol and cigarettes, food, free taxis," she said. The men from Rochdale and Oldham were found guilty of offences including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. [19] Four members of the grooming gang including ringleader Shabir Ahmed face deportation to Pakistan. By then police were investigating allegations from another girl about on-street grooming in Heywood. This resulted in Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Doublet to investigate further claims of abuse with . We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 52, are . A decision has also yet to be made on whether two of the men, Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf, will be deported back to Pakistan after they appealed against an original ruling. Business. [2] One 13-year-old victim had an abortion after becoming pregnant. 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. 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. Girls aged between 13 and 15 were trafficked, prostituted, raped and assaulted by the gang. Fits all sizes comfortably. Id been used. In subsequent cases, the racial and religious background of perpetrators have been exploited by some - but there have also been accusations that authorities were slow to act on concerns for fear of being dubbed racist. The Rotherham case was one of several cases which prompted investigations looking into the claim that the majority of perpetrators from grooming gangs were 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 . 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. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Top row, left to right, Abdul Rauf, Hamid Safi, Mohammed Sajid and Abdul Aziz; bottom row, left to right, Abdul Qayyum, Adil Khan, Mohammed Amin and Kabeer Hassan, Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of a gang of Asian men who groomed young white girls for sex. The force settled the claim before the matter got to court. "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. Of the three not convicted, one was cleared of all charges, the jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case of the second, and the third was not present at the trial after fleeing to Pakistan whilst on bail. it's reported matt hancock considered this to be a potent breach of the regulations But she changed her mind when Operation Span came knocking and she was given cast iron assurances the victims would be supported. I agreed to help the police to stop it happening to others, Amber wrote to Oliver in the midst of her campaign for justice. "I was scared telling them, because I didn't know what the consequences would be from the men. Two men who were part of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang have lost an appeal against deportation back to Pakistan following a seven-year legal battle, immigration judges have ruled. Police seized the foetus as evidence, but she was not notified, nor was her mother or any responsible adult. 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. Eight years later, following a second police investigation, nine men were convicted of sexual exploitation. The gang of nine men received jail sentences of between four and 19 years from a judge who said they treated their victims as though they were worthless and beyond any respect. "They threaten you, and you're scared of them, and that's how they make you do it.". [I] cant remember exactly what they said, but it was something along the lines of being a madam, she recalled. 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. 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. 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. Wide elastic waistband with black edging. 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 (GMP). 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. Mohammed Amin received a five-year sentence for sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. Two members of the grooming gang the gangs ringleader Shabir Ahmed and Kabeer Hassan were arrested and released on bail. "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. Taxi driver Abdul Qayyum, 44, of Rochdale, - known by the name "Tiger" - was jailed for five years. 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. Find a Job etween 2008 and 2010, a child abuse ring that came to be known as part of the grooming gang phenomenon operated in Rochdale. Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? . Sun Online looks at the group from Rochdale and Oldham, who exploited girls as young as 13. [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. 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. Their treatment encompasses a range of catastrophic errors in one of the countrys most harrowing child sexual abuse scandals. We were making referrals from 2004, very explicit referrals, referrals which absolutely highlighted for protective services that young people were incredibly vulnerable, she said. The report makes recommendations for each of the agencies involved: CAFCASS; Rochdale MBC Children's Services (Targeted services, Safeguarding Children Unit, and Schools); Connexions Rochdale; Early Break (Young People's Drug and Alcohol Service) ; Greater Manchester Police; Pennine Acute NHS Trust; Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust; RMBC [1] One 13-year-old victim recounted that, after being forced to have sex in exchange for vodka, her abuser immediately raped her again and gave her 40 to not say anything about the incident. The trial of nine of the grooming gang was pending, and in the meantime, despite never having been informed, arrested or cautioned, Amber was added to the indictment by the CPS as a co-conspirator. Exact date yellow weather warning for snow and ice forecast to hit UK - will you be affected?