Khan got a 13-year-old girl pregnant, but denied he was the father, then met another girl, 15, and trafficked her to others using violence when she complained. [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. Video, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, Harry: I always felt different to rest of family, US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, Walkie Talkie architect Rafael Violy dies aged 78. They contend that clouding the issue by calling them "Asians" is unfair towards other groups and detrimental to a frank discussion. I never thought that they would do what they did to me, because you don't think that would happen.". [9] The men were aged between 24-59 and all knew each other. 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 BBC reports Kabeer Hassan, then 25, of Oldham, was sentenced to nine years for rape and three years, concurrently, for the conspiracy conviction. Convicted rapist who murdered one woman and attempted to murder another. The women, who have been backed by lawyers from the Centre for Women's Justice charity, had brought a legal claim against the force. Grooming victim: "What they did to me was evil. Police seized the foetus as evidence, but she was not notified, nor was her mother or any responsible adult. 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. There was a string of different inquiries into what went wrong. After the trials conclusion, there were public apologies from the police, the council and prosecutors for failing the victims. They ripped away all my dignity". To date, the CPS has not accepted any failure on its part and instead continues to herald this case as the first successful prosecution of a grooming gang. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? As always you can unsubscribe at any time. An External Reference Group, consisting of independent experts on child sexual exploitation . Rochdale grooming gang members lose appeal against deportation to Pakistan Two men who were part of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang have lost an appeal against deportation back to. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. I think it was because they were afraid of being called racist. Behind the scenes, however, there was consternation. Read about our approach to external linking. She walked out, refusing to go along with this decision, and was forbidden from speaking to Amber. It was then she told police for the first time what was going on. She said that seven officers had been served with misconduct notices, but no further disciplinary action would be taken against them. 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. Nine men between 24 and 38 years old were arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a child. Abdul Rauf, then 43, of Rochdale, was convicted of trafficking a child within the UK for sexual exploitation and received six years. have fuelled fight-wing groups opposing multiculturalism and immigration. One victim was forced to have sex with at least 20 men in one night; another was forced to drink vodka, and was vomiting over the side of the bed while being raped by countless men. Two members of the grooming gang the gangs ringleader Shabir Ahmed and Kabeer Hassan were arrested and released on bail. The dramatisation tells the story of three children who were victims in the scandal and stars Maxine Peake as sexual health worker Sara, who recorded and reported cases of child abuse for years. Who were the men in the Rochdale grooming gang and what happened to them? These involved the grooming and sexual exploitation of several girls, aged in their early teens. [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. Colin Veitch, Tayport Fife 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." Kabeer Hassan was sentenced to nine years for rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. Some of the men involved were arrested, tried and found guilty. 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. 'No one told me it wasn't normal to be hospitalised for period pains. [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". Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation: Characteristics of Offending Page 2 of 57 Operation Retriever 42 Operation Brooke 44 . 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. 08 April 2021 The Rochdale grooming scandal was one of the most horrific cases of child sexual abuse in recent times. Show. Khan told the hearing: "I have a question for the Home Secretary, whether Mr Aziz was an angel and I am a devil?". 'NO REMORSE' Rochdale grooming gang paedophiles launch ANOTHER appeal to stay in UK. Molly Windsor, Liv Hill and Ria Zmitrowicz feature as a trio of girls drawn into the frightening world of sexual exploitation. Rauf and Khan only renounced their Pakistani citizenship in September of the same year after the Court of Appeal ruling. Critics say the delays meant more girls were left to be abused while the criminal justice system slowly changed its course. [36], In a BBC documentary investigating grooming young girls for sex by some Pakistani men, Imam Irfan Chishti from the Rochdale Council of Mosques deplored the practice, saying it was "very shocking to see fellow British Muslims brought to court for this kind of horrific offence. The BBC drama Three Girls was based on the Rochdale child sexual abuse scandal. The men from Rochdale and Oldham were found guilty of offences including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Ive got a box in the back of my head, and I just put it all in there and its locked away.. Even though she had been a victim, she was accused of being involved in the grooming. [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. Beaten, abused, raped - but never believed by police, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. [31], In late 2011, the Office of the Children's Commissioner began a two-year long inquiry into child sexual exploitation by street gangs. You have only got my kind here. It was outrageous. The Rochdale child sex abuse ring involved underage teenage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.Nine men were convicted of sex trafficking and other offences including rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child in May 2012. In response to Ambers claim that it was wrong to name her on the indictment, it says it was both legally and tactically the correct course to take. History was repeating itself, said Maggie. NINE men who ran the Rochdale child sex abuse ring were eventually jailed for a string of offences in 2012. 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. Furious, Maggie vowed never to be part of such an investigation in future. 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The first victim, who was 15 when the abuse began, told the police what had been happening to her in August 2008. They were 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. 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.. A significant proportion of cases were labelled as no further action needed and the leadership team were not interested in childrens social care. Two members of a Rochdale sex grooming gang have lost their long-running appeal against being deported to Pakistan. The investigation was suddenly scrapped with no-one arrested or charged. She specifically spoke of her abuse at the hands of two members of the gang who would later be jailed four years. 2023 BBC. The men from Rochdale and Oldham were found guilty of offences including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. 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. Their treatment encompasses a range of catastrophic errors in one of the countrys most harrowing child sexual abuse scandals. Richard Moriarty; Jonathan Reilly; Published: 21:11, 8 Apr 2021; Updated: 21:11, 8 Apr 2021: 21:11, 8 Apr 2021 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. It was not until summer 2011 that Nazir Afzal, the new regional head of the CPS, reversed the decision not to prosecute. [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". This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. 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. Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? [19] "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. [10] The gang worked to secure underage girls to rape and exploit.[11][12]. [2] One 13-year-old victim had an abortion after becoming pregnant. [24], The case raised a serious debate about whether the crimes were racially motivated. [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. 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. 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. Details. . 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. 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. 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. 17 miles | Rochdale, Manchester Features: Front+Back Dual cover,360 protection. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. 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 uncovered would become a national scandal. Abdul Aziz, 51, Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Rauf, 52, were among nine gang members jailed in 2012 for a catalogue of child sex offences in Rochdale. 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. The Independent Office for Police Conduct quoted a chief inspector on the sexual abuse cases in Rotherham saying "With it being Asians, we can't afford for this to be coming out" - cementing the. Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 53, were convicted in 2012. She noted that white male predators on the street tend to work alone. Find a Job The taxi driver was said in court to have taken over as the main trafficker of the girls. 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. [1] Forty-seven girls were identified as victims of child sexual exploitation during the police investigation. You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk, Grooming gang member in deportation plea over son, Grooming gang member complains over treatment, 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, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. The abuse took place at two takeaway restaurants- now under new management - in the Heywood area of Rochdale by the men aged between 24 and 59. How 'deluded' Putin thought Ukraine invasion would break up Nato & have West bowing down to Russia, leaked docs show, Man had sex with his wife on bollard after fuming neighbour placed it in cul-de-sac in protest during parking row, 'Bubbly' nightclub worker, 31, killed after her Audi crashed into a bridge on her way home from work, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). The vile group exploited girls as young as 13 and were initially given sentences ranging from four to 19 years. He said: We now know that Rochdale was not an isolated case. The M.E.N's crime reporter John Scheerhout gives his insight into the BBC dramatisation of the Rochdale grooming case He was a married father-of-five and religious studies teacher at a local mosque. In 2015 three men were sentenced for a string of child sexual offences that took place in Rochdale. A CPS spokesman said it could not comment in the meantime. Size 2XL I used to buy end of lines, torn boxes, opened packets etc to sell on markets. The case is another example of the worrying number of girls who . 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. [1][2], The oldest person to be convicted, Shabir Ahmed,[16] was for a while the main trafficker of the victims. [48][49], A further investigation was carried out by the British government in December 2020, when the Home Office published their findings, showing that the majority of child sexual exploitation gangs were, in fact, composed of white men and not British Pakistani men.[50][51]. The organisation defined underage grooming as any situation where a child or young person received a gift in exchange for sexual favours. A SURVIVOR of a Rotherham grooming gang says she knew all along a teenager was posing as a "fake" victim of sexual abuse. 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. Nine men were convicted of being part of the child sexual exploitation ring, Nazir Afzal regrets that the CPS dropped the original grooming case, Harry: I always felt different to rest of family, US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Canadian grandma helps police snag phone scammer. I shouldve been helped, not punished.. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. 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. But the situation changed and she was raped by one of the men. But she added: "They're just brainwashing you so you think you love them so you do what they say. I felt sick, got upset nothing never no one from police came to me to explain why I was no longer going to court. Khan, Rauf and Aziz were convicted of conspiracy and trafficking for sexual exploitation charges. [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. While this is true, Amber believes that she was used as a scapegoat. Craving love and attention, Amber was lured into a nightmare, subjected to repeated and often violent sexual abuse. Nine men have been convicted of sexually exploiting young girls in Greater Manchester. 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. The grooming scandals in Rochdale and similar ones in other cities which involved Asian men, including Oxford and Rotherham, have fuelled fight-wing groups opposing multiculturalism and immigration. He said the investigation was looking at cases in Rochdale dating back to 2003. 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'. She has forced the police and social services to apologise to her for their behaviour. 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. Find Jobs. 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 [20], Four of the convicted, Shabir Ahmed, Adil Khan, Abdul Rauf and Abdul Aziz, who had dual British and Pakistani citizenships, were denaturalized (stripped of their British citizenship) by then Home Secretary Theresa May in order for them to be deported to Pakistan. She was vilified and nicknamed in the press as the Honey Monster. Abdul Rauf was sentenced to six years for trafficking for sexual exploitation and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away 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. involved the grooming and sexual exploitation of several girls aged in their early teens. ", "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. 2023 BBC. Read about our approach to external linking. "[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. 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. While GMP has finally settled the claim, which includes the personal apology from the chief constable, the DPP has so far resisted. "It made me feel like I was pretty. I push thoughts about the abuse out of my head. [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. After the court case, social services started to pursue Amber, with the aim of having her children removed. Search more than 3,000 jobs in the charity sector. Amber was understandably reluctant to trust the police. How long have Keir Starmer and Sue Gray been secretly cooking up their plot? One delivered a takeaway to my house a few weeks back, she tells me. [18] Among the incidents recorded by the police were a 15-year-old victim too drunk to recall being raped by 20 men, one after the other; and another victim so drunk that she vomited over the side of the bed as she was being raped by two men. etween 2008 and 2010, a child abuse ring that came to be known as part of the grooming gang phenomenon operated in Rochdale. Even when the authorities did recognise the problem, their slow reaction allowed the abusers to carry on exploiting their victims for years. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. Abdul Aziz, then 41 and a married dad-of-three, of Rochdale, was convicted of trafficking for sexual exploitation and received a nine year sentence. 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. 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. Now we have to confront forced marriage among Travellers', "Rochdale paedophile ringleader is named", "Rochdale child sex ring: nine men jailed", "Rochdale Child Sex Ring: 'Master', 'Tiger' and Seven Others Guilty of Rape and Trafficking", "Rochdale grooming leader guilty of child rape", "Rochdale grooming trial: Nine men jailed", "Members of Rochdale grooming gang face deportation to Pakistan", "Arrests made in second Rochdale sex grooming scandal", "Police vow to arrest even more child sex suspects", "Ten men charged over Rochdale child abuse claims", "Revealed: conspiracy of silence on UK sex gangs", "Rochdale grooming trial: Police accused of failing to investigate paedophile gang for fear of appearing racist", "Rochdale grooming trial: Asian grooming gangs, the uncomfortable issue", "Report 'downplays sex abuse by Asian men', "Quitting the English Defence League: When Tommy Met Mo", "Sexually exploited children are at further risk in care, says Barnardo's", "Child sex trafficking study sparks exaggerated racial stereotyping", "Grooming offences committed mostly by Asian men, says ex-Barnardo's chief", "Rochdale featured in sex grooming documentary", "Heywood: Rochdale town at the centre of child sex ring", "Why the Rochdale 'grooming trial' wasn't about race", "Complaints over use of 'Asian' label in grooming cases", "It's time to stop using the word 'Asians', "UK Hindus, Sikhs protest 'Asian' label for culprits", "Rochdale taxi firm boss in 'race choice' U-turn", "Child grooming and sexual exploitation: are South Asian men the UK media's new folk devils? It emerged at the immigration tribunal hearing in London, Aziz had already been told he will not be stripped of his UK citizenship and deported. "At first I felt really bad, dirty and ashamed. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? The other three are Adil Khan, Qari Abdul Rauf and Abdul Aziz. [2], The victims, vulnerable teenagers from deprived, dysfunctional backgrounds, were targeted in "honeypot locations" where young people congregated, such as takeaway food shops. Mohammed Amin received a five-year sentence for sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. 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". Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 52, are . It made me sick to my stomach. But the investigation, according to one officer who was involved, was a car crash. My name has been dragged through the mud. 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. A tribunal heard Aziz, known as "the Master", has been told he will not be deported by the Home Office. 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. This resulted in Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Doublet to investigate further claims of abuse with 19 men so far being convicted. 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. The abuse then continued, with a number of men who she had not seen before joining in. This resulted in Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Doublet to investigate further claims of abuse with . At best this was distracting for leaders and influenced the areas that resources were focused on". Speaking at the conclusion of a 10-week trial at Liverpool Crown. This kind of institutional neglect of a whole sector of society must never happen again and we need programmes like Three Girls to remind us.. Attempts by Rochdale Crisis Intervention Team co-ordinator for the NHS, Sara Rowbotham, to alert police and authorities to "patterns of sexual abuse" were ignored. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? he'd been at a trump rally in the states under lockdown rules. 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. One of their victims tells her story. [34], A report by The Times on 5 January 2011, related to convictions for child sex grooming in the North and Midlands. "[32] Further research has been pursued since late 2011 by the Office of the Children's Commissioner. Then, shortly after the ID parade, Oliver was told that they were no longer going to use Ambers evidence. Find Jobs. The women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met Chief Constable Stephen Watson to be given the apology for police failings. They added that although the abuse was happening "in plain sight" and despite police and social services having the names of the men involved and their victims, a police operation to tackle the gangs was closed down abruptly in 2004. 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. 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.

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