rochdale grooming case

They had to be assured that, as victims of sex crimes, they would be guaranteed anonymity for life. Mohammed Amin received a five-year sentence for sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. Part of HuffPost News. Furious, Maggie vowed never to be part of such an investigation in future. Rochdale grooming gang members could be deported to Pakistan; . [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. Shabir Ahmed, who abused dozens of vulnerable teenagers, was known as "Dadd 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. Social workers focused on young people's high-risk behaviour and "not their vulnerability", the latest review found. The probe began after a local teenager was arrested for smashing up a cabinet at the Balti . She had worked on Operation Augusta in 2004 which examined the sexual abuse of white girls by Asian men in Hulme and Rusholme. He said the actions of criminals who thought "white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused" were "bringing shame on our community. Pay Range: $54.58 - $88.09. *To protect her identity the victim's name has been changed. A June 2008 report to Rochdale safeguarding children board had identified 50 children at risk of sexual exploitation. Known as the "Rochdale Grooming" case, over 1400 vulnerable children were systematically abused by gangs of men between 2005 and 2013. Two members of the grooming gang the gangs ringleader Shabir Ahmed and Kabeer Hassan were arrested and released on bail. 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. They werent bothered when youre from a shit home. [1][8] Most of the men were married and well-respected within their community. The ID parades were particularly gruelling for Amber, who did 12 in one day alone, correctly identifying 10 of her abusers. Nine men were found guilty and sentenced to a total of 77 years in prison. 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. She specifically spoke of her abuse at the hands of two members of the gang who would later be jailed four years. 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. 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. Because she was not involved in the trial, and therefore did not give evidence, she had no opportunity to defend herself. "[The police] messed up, not me. A new investigation, dubbed Operation Span, was launched. The inspector concluded the abuse could have stopped if the authorities had stepped in sooner. 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. To keep up with Rochdale news sign up to the MyRochdale newsletter here. 2023 BBC. 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. She described the Rochdale case as "even more disgusting" than cases of girls being passed around street gangs, as the perpetrators "were grown men, some of them religious teachers or running businesses, with young families of their own. Finally, officers did not challenge a Crown Prosecution Service decision not to prosecute. 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 walked out, refusing to go along with this decision, and was forbidden from speaking to Amber. "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. Greater Manchester Police said officers are becoming want to make sure Payton is 'safe and well'. [9] The men were aged between 24-59 and all knew each other. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. "It's not an excuse that's the reality of where we are. Grooming victim: "What they did to me was evil. She noted that white male predators on the street tend to work alone. Maggie spent six months speaking to the victims from Rochdale and persuaded them to give evidence. 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. 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. [52], In December 2013, the case review by Rochdale County was leaked, which highlighted findings from an internal police investigation. Man United beat West Ham United 3-1 in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening. Tellingly, he added: I believe that one of the factors that led to that was that they were not of your community or religion. ", "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. 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. The convictions she received as a teen continue to hold her back to this day. It formed a large part of the police investigation that became known as Operation Span. The testimony of one of the five victims of the Rochdale grooming ring revealed the depth of the exploitation she suffered. 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. [24], The case raised a serious debate about whether the crimes were racially motivated. 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. 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. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. She was vilified and nicknamed in the press as the Honey Monster. [8], Some gang members told the court the girls were willing participants and happy having sex with the men. [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". 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. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Job Description. [I] cant remember exactly what they said, but it was something along the lines of being a madam, she recalled. As a result of police failures to respond to evidence, the men who had groomed the three children were able to continue . "This is something I feel very strongly about," she says. "[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. Five of the girls had "clearly" needed help and intervention by safeguarding agencies before the abuse began, the report said. 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. etween 2008 and 2010, a child abuse ring that came to be known as part of the grooming gang phenomenon operated in Rochdale. One victim, a 15-year-old known as the Honey Monster, acted as a recruiter, procuring girls as young as 13 for the gang. 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. Stephen Watson, chief constable of Greater Manchester police, made a personal apology to three of the Rochdale victims. In The Betrayed Girls, they speak to survivors, . Social services became involved when she started to arrive at school dirty and sometimes smelling of alcohol. They ripped away all my dignity". 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. She still has a scar on her arm and as far as we know, the man who abused her was never investigated. [2] One gang member convicted of sex trafficking was a religious studies teacher at a mosque and a married father of five. But the situation changed and she was raped by one of the men. Sir Peter said Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd has set up an independent commission to look into the handling of cases involving teenagers with chaotic lifestyles. "You will be supported and you will be heard.". "It made me feel like I was pretty. [5], In March 2015, Greater Manchester Police apologised for its failure to investigate the child sexual exploitation allegations more thoroughly between 2008 and 2010. [19] When police were called to a report of a 15-year-old girl smashing up the Balti House takeaway in Heywood, they had no idea that the crime they had. "They threaten you, and you're scared of them, and that's how they make you do it.". The men led the girls to believe they were in relationships with some of them, and it was normal to have sex. "She yearns to put her awful experiences to some value. 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. While GMP has finally settled the claim, which includes the personal apology from the chief constable, the DPP has so far resisted. The investigation slowly built a compelling case, away from the public gaze. [1] Forty-seven girls were identified as victims of child sexual exploitation during the police investigation. "[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. The police were called. Id been used. 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. Instead of being seen as a victim, Daisy was arrested and prosecuted for offences - many directly linked to the abuse she was suffering. 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. "Most people would say it is crazy that there are 17 or 18 different agencies in a place like Rochdale in charge of children," he said. There was a "shocking" inability to protect seven vulnerable girls from sexual exploitation, a report into the Rochdale grooming case has said. It meant she was regarded by the prosecution as a member of the grooming gang whose members would go in the dock, even though she was not charged and would not stand beside them in court. "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. Her mother was not allowed to be with her during the interview, and there was no mention of an appropriate adult. But the investigation, according to one officer who was involved, was a car crash. Read about our approach to external linking. She's now in her late 20s. The serious case review looked at six girls who suffered sexual exploitation in Heywood, Rochdale between 2007 and 2010. 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. Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood said that about 550 officers were working on Operation Doublet in May 2013. Police began to investigate child grooming in Rochdale almost by accident. 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. When police arrived, she says they did not believe her version of events. Were told 84% of grooming gangs are Asian. On one of those interviews a police officer can be heard yawning while repeatedly asking why she had put herself in such a vulnerable position. [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. It made me sick to my stomach. What about them? [2] One 13-year-old victim had an abortion after becoming pregnant. But not all. 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. Her evidence helped put abusers behind bars, yet Amber was vilified by the authorities and says her torment will never end. Even when the authorities did recognise the problem, their slow reaction allowed the abusers to carry on exploiting their victims for years. [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. 'We are not going to stop' - Mikel Arteta sends Man City title message after Arsenal win, Manchester City now trail Arsenal by five points in the Premier League table after the Gunners beat Everton 4-0 on Wednesday night, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp learns Real Madrid lesson ahead of Manchester United clash, Liverpool beat Wolves in the Premier League on Wednesday and face Man United this weekend, West Ham manager David Moyes delivers bullish verdict on FA Cup defeat to Manchester United. "That can't make sense.". Full-Time. I think it's wrong that she be held back in this way.". The government would not comment on the Rochdale case but said it had deported more than 51,000 foreign national offenders since 2010. Daisy had ambitions to become a social worker, to use her painful past to help others in the future. Amber was understandably reluctant to trust the police. 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. 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. [1] The abusers paid small sums of money for the encounters. 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. [1][2], The oldest person to be convicted, Shabir Ahmed,[16] was for a while the main trafficker of the victims. 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. [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. Read about our approach to external linking. "Lessons must be learnt from this report and measures implemented to ensure no other vulnerable children are treated as at fault. It was outrageous. They contend that clouding the issue by calling them "Asians" is unfair towards other groups and detrimental to a frank discussion. Why the Rochdale 'grooming trial' wasn't about race Focusing on the ethnicity of the men convicted of child sex offences in Rochdale detracts from the real issue: this was ultimately about. I never thought that they would do what they did to me, because you don't think that would happen.". Instead, when she became upset and disruptive, she was arrested and later convicted of disorderly behaviour. "[45], In May 2017, the BBC broadcast Three Girls, a miniseries about the case. "What they did to me was evil, they ripped away my dignity, my self-esteem," she said. It was absolute disrespect that vulnerable young people did not have a voice. The abuse then continued, with a number of men who she had not seen before joining in. I push thoughts about the abuse out of my head. 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. [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. [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. Parents felt agencies "failed to work together", did not listen or keep them informed. 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. 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. The review recommended the Greater Manchester Police establish a monitoring system and commit to maintaining a child sexual exploitation team. And then, in July 2009, an experienced CPS lawyer ruled the victim was not credible and decided that the two men who raped her should be released without charge. Willmer added: "We think this is the tip of the iceberg", although she cautioned against treating the matter as a race crime: "It's a criminal thing. I shouldve been helped, not punished.. My name has been dragged through the mud. Under the direct supervision of the Registered Nurse the GI Technician provides care to all patients, including pediatrics, adults and geriatrics by assisting the team during GI procedures. At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. It was only when she met Oliver in early 2012 that things started to change. Two worked for the same taxi firm and another two worked at a takeaway restaurant; some came from the same village in Pakistan and another two men shared a flat. Finally, she has been exonerated. 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. Speaking at the conclusion of a 10-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, the woman, who cannot be identified, said she was forced to have sex with up to five different men in a day, at least four times a week. The abuse took place in Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, in the early 2000s. [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. Afterwards, she told me: I went home, put it to the back of my mind to be honest. [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. There was a string of different inquiries into what went wrong. "[32] Further research has been pursued since late 2011 by the Office of the Children's Commissioner. Research has been dragged through the mud their victims for years Asian men Hulme..., telephone numbers and addresses the testimony of one of the exploitation she suffered therefore did not give evidence the. Situation changed and she was not involved in the early 2000s young people 's behaviour... Victim: `` what they said, but it was normal to have sex site of 'no hope ' BBC! Inspector concluded the abuse took place in Rochdale, in May 2013 up to the victims from Rochdale and them! Payton is 'safe and well ' but said it had deported more than 51,000 foreign national offenders since.! 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At a mosque and a married father of five wrong that she held. Honey Monster dirty and sometimes smelling of alcohol victims of child sexual exploitation listen.

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