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. 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. More arrests, and more . 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. [5] The girls were mainly White British. 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. Nine men from Rochdale and Oldham were sentenced for up to 19 years in prison in May 2012 after being convicted of offences including rape. The abuse of minor female children that occurred in 2008 and 2009 centred around two takeaways in Heywood near Rochdale. My name has been dragged through the mud. 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. had learned about the investigation but after approaching GMP we were told to hold off until the victims had been spoken to. [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. 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. Police and social workers failed the girls who were "passed around for sex" by a gang of men, it said. [31], In late 2011, the Office of the Children's Commissioner began a two-year long inquiry into child sexual exploitation by street gangs. The investigation into the sexual abuse of the girl had been reopened following the exposure of police failings. After the trials conclusion, there were public apologies from the police, the council and prosecutors for failing the victims. One night in 2006, when she was just 14, a man became aggressive after she refused to have sex with him. said in its review into child sexual exploitation after the trial. Tellingly, he added: I believe that one of the factors that led to that was that they were not of your community or religion. I shouldve been helped, not punished.. "Our understanding [of these crimes] at the time wasn't as developed and our practice wasn't as improved as it is today. [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". In some cases those girls were raped, callously, viciously and violently. [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. 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. There was a complete lack of understanding of the world in which they existed. 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. You have only got my kind here. Finally, after a gruelling 18 months and several hearings, the judge threw the case out. But not all. "It's not an excuse that's the reality of where we are. 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. The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. As a result of police failures to respond to evidence, the men who had groomed the three children were able to continue . I think it's wrong that she be held back in this way.". History was repeating itself, said Maggie. '", 'We should have listened to he broken teenagers'. 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? Nine men were convicted, of whom eight were of British Pakistani origin and one was an Afghan asylum-seeker. Full-Time. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. It was outrageous. "She yearns to put her awful experiences to some value. ", Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Children Board, 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. 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. [22] Operation Doublet was launched at the same time as an investigation into child grooming and sexual abuse in the region. 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. Abdul Rauf was sentenced to six years for trafficking for sexual exploitation and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. [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. He said: We now know that Rochdale was not an isolated case. [10] The gang worked to secure underage girls to rape and exploit.[11][12]. However, it is not possible to conclude that this is representative of all group-based CSE offending. 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. "We have to remember that in most of those cases, the girls themselves did not regard themselves as victims and were not willing to make complaints and that is still the situation now," he said. 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. This vulnerable girl had been failed.. The report came on the same day five men were jailed for grooming a teenage girl. "[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. 10:45, 3 JUL 2017. [2] One gang member convicted of sex trafficking was a religious studies teacher at a mosque and a married father of five. Rochdale grooming case - what really happened? Writing for HuffPost UK, chief executive Javed Khan of childrens charity Barnardos described Three Girls as absolutely vital viewing.. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. [41][42][43], Two of the convicted gang members worked at Eagle Taxis, which was taken over by Car 2000 after the scandal. 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. 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. Instead of being seen as a victim, Daisy was arrested and prosecuted for offences - many directly linked to the abuse she was suffering. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. Ive got a box in the back of my head, and I just put it all in there and its locked away.. And Ive done nothing wrong I was a victim of these men at the age of 14. When police arrived, she says they did not believe her version of events. In 2017, the BBC aired the drama "Three Girls" which featured the story of . 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. Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk (Labour) said agencies had actively ignored the abuse and that "social services believed these girls were making lifestyle choices". I hoped that I would be able to persuade the elders to go knocking on doors and say 'this behaviour is un-Islamic and I want it to stop because I'm going to tell the whole community about you and what youre doing if you dont'. Some of the men involved were arrested, tried and found guilty. [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. 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Daisy had ambitions to become a social worker, to use her painful past to help others in the future. Molly Windsor, Liv Hill and Ria Zmitrowicz feature as a trio of girls drawn into the frightening world of sexual exploitation. I asked Amber what gave her the strength to give evidence to the police, after what she had gone through. 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. Even though she had been a victim, she was accused of being involved in the grooming. 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 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 . "At first I felt really bad, dirty and ashamed. One delivered a takeaway to my house a few weeks back, she tells me. 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. Nine men were found guilty and sentenced to a total of 77 years in prison. "[3], Sayeeda Warsi, co-chairperson of the Conservative Party, in an interview with the Evening Standard, said "You can only start solving a problem if you acknowledge it first," and added, "This small minority who see women as second class citizens, and white women probably as third class citizens, are to be spoken out against." Without Ambers initial evidence there might never have been a trial at all. 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. "He then was saying all the things he had bought for me, and he wanted something back for it. ", 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. The arrests are in relation to one of the five girls who gave evidence at Liverpool Crown Court in the case of a child sex grooming ring in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Known as the "Rochdale Grooming" case, over 1400 vulnerable children were systematically abused by gangs of men between 2005 and 2013. She told me: It wasnt like a forced thing. Back in the police station, the girl who had just vandalised the takeaway provided a detailed account of the abuse and the perpetrators as well as evidence in the form of her underwear, which carried traces of one of her attackers' DNA. 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. Speaking at the conclusion of a 10-week trial at Liverpool Crown. [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. 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