"I was scared telling them, because I didn't know what the consequences would be from the men. But she added: "They're just brainwashing you so you think you love them so you do what they say. [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. 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. Updated 10:47, 10 JUN 2020. Between 2003 and 2014, Rowbotham made more than 180 attempts to alert police and social services but was told the witnesses were not reliable. Tellingly, he added: I believe that one of the factors that led to that was that they were not of your community or religion. And Ive done nothing wrong I was a victim of these men at the age of 14. After a while, the girl was being driven to different houses or flats where there would be other men waiting. 2023 BBC. I didnt know what that meant. She was held in custody for hours before being released on bail. 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. 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. After the trials conclusion, there were public apologies from the police, the council and prosecutors for failing the victims. "It's not a normal relationship when your boyfriend is getting you to sleep with all his friends for money.". [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. He said that of convictions involving child sexual exploitation, 87% were of British Pakistani men and it was a significant problem for that community. 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. 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. [2], The victims, vulnerable teenagers from deprived, dysfunctional backgrounds, were targeted in "honeypot locations" where young people congregated, such as takeaway food shops. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. He said: We now know that Rochdale was not an isolated case. 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. But because of an obligation to disclose criminal convictions, she has been prevented from pursuing her chosen career. Instead, when she became upset and disruptive, she was arrested and later convicted of disorderly behaviour. It was absolute disrespect that vulnerable young people did not have a voice. [8], Some gang members told the court the girls were willing participants and happy having sex with the men. It was then she told police for the first time what was going on. [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. But after a while it had been going on for so long and with so many different men, I didn't feel anything towards it anymore. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. [53], On 13 March 2015, Greater Manchester Police apologised for its failure to investigate child sexual exploitation allegations more thoroughly between 2008 and 2010. At the time, she was living with an older victim but when she became pregnant by one of the men, she moved back in with her parents. But when she was just 12, she was groomed and sexually abused by gangs of adult men. She gave the police a list, at an early stage of Operation Span, with nicknames, telephone numbers and other details relating to offenders. The abuse then continued, with a number of men who she had not seen before joining in. Their treatment encompasses a range of catastrophic errors in one of the countrys most harrowing child sexual abuse scandals. 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. Another night - this time in 2007 - Daisy says she was burnt with a heated metal spoon as punishment for refusing to have sex with a man at a house party. The scandal shocked the nation - and helped change the way the criminal justice system treats victims of grooming. 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.. ', "We haven't sorted out a solution to these really complex issues about young people.". Greater Manchester Police (GMP) - Failure to recognise child sexual exploitation in the early stages, Rochdale Social Services - Lack of organisational priority over child sexual exploitation, an unstable duty and assessment team and a "chaotic" duty system, Health services - GPs had explicit information that some of the girls were at risk "that could have helped them identify the possibility of sexual exploitation at earlier points", Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) - Recognition of child sexual exploitation in the early years "was very poor", resulting in missed prosecution opportunities in 2008. Kabeer Hassan was sentenced to nine years for rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. A serious case review by the Rochdale Safeguarding Children Board highlighted failures by 17 agencies who were meant to protect the 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. 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. 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. 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. Mohammed Amin received a five-year sentence for sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. "[32], The former head of Barnardo's, Martin Narey, said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "For this particular type of crime, the street grooming of teenage girls in northern towns there is very troubling evidence that Asians are overwhelmingly represented in the prosecutions for such offences. They contend that clouding the issue by calling them "Asians" is unfair towards other groups and detrimental to a frank discussion. "He asked me to come upstairs and I didn't really think anything of it," she explained. As a result of police failures to respond to evidence, the men who had groomed the three children were able to continue . She noted that white male predators on the street tend to work alone. 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. 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 June 2008 report identified 50 children in the town at risk of sexual exploitation. The review recommended the Greater Manchester Police establish a monitoring system and commit to maintaining a child sexual exploitation team. ", 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. I agreed to help the police to stop it happening to others, Amber wrote to Oliver in the midst of her campaign for justice. 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. But once the CPS advised the GMP that she was no longer seen as a suspect, she was persuaded by Oliver to begin a series of video interviews and ID parades. 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). The report also showed that more than 3,000 children under the age of 18 were reported missing in Greater Manchester in 2014. "[35] By May 2012, according to The Independent, Crop had "gone suddenly silent" concerning the percentage of abusers of Asian origin who had come to the organisation's attention: Willmer explained to the paper: "We've been accused of being a cover for the BNP". "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.". She told me: It wasnt like a forced thing. 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. 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. "[40], Hindu and Sikh groups have objected to media use of the "Asian" description saying that the culprits were "almost always of Pakistani origin" and "Muslim". 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. Part of HuffPost News. 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. [41][42][43], Two of the convicted gang members worked at Eagle Taxis, which was taken over by Car 2000 after the scandal. This resulted in Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Doublet to investigate further claims of abuse with 19 men so far being convicted. 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. Rochdale grooming case - what really happened? One of their victims tells her story. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. "It made me feel like I was pretty. Abdul Aziz, 51, Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Rauf, 52,. 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. 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. Ten months after her case had been dropped, police decided to revisit the case after more complaints emerged. "[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." She specifically spoke of her abuse at the hands of two members of the gang who would later be jailed four years. Nine men have been convicted of sexually exploiting young girls in Greater Manchester. One in five children and young people who go missing from home or care is at risk of serious harm, with major concerns about the links between children running away and the risks of child sexual exploitation, it said. The inspector concluded the abuse could have stopped if the authorities had stepped in sooner. 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. 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". 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. Maggie spent six months speaking to the victims from Rochdale and persuaded them to give evidence. 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. Why has nothing happened to these men? 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. "I got picked up so many times by the police and it was always when I was out with adult men," she says. He said the actions of criminals who thought "white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused" were "bringing shame on our community. "You will be supported and you will be heard.". The men led the girls to believe they were in relationships with some of them, and it was normal to have sex. Amber was also threatened at gunpoint by a man whom she subsequently identified to the police. I asked Amber what gave her the strength to give evidence to the police, after what she had gone through. [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]. "I'm nearly 30 years old, this started when I was 12," she says. You have only got my kind here. Nine men were found guilty and sentenced to a total of 77 years in prison. Man United beat West Ham United in the FA Cup fifth round and here are how the players rated at Old Trafford. To keep up with Rochdale news sign up to the MyRochdale newsletter here. Cockbain and Brayley expressed concern that "findings were being overextended from a small, geographically concentrated sample to characterise an entire crime type". Her complaint was not taken seriously and she carried on being abused by the gang until December 2008 when she fell pregnant and moved away. The convictions she received as a teen continue to hold her back to this day. She continued to receive phone calls from her abusers, and cars with drivers she recognised were parking outside. He said the investigation was looking at cases in Rochdale dating back to 2003. [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. "He then was saying all the things he had bought for me, and he wanted something back for it. The police were called. Oliver had been headhunted to join the grooming gangs case as detective and victim liaison officer in 2010 because of her experience working with vulnerable victims. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. The abuse of minor female children that occurred in 2008 and 2009 centred around two takeaways in Heywood near Rochdale. [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 testimony of one of the five victims of the Rochdale grooming ring revealed the depth of the exploitation she suffered. More arrests, and more . A key member of the team was Detective Constable Maggie Oliver whose task was to convince the victims to speak to the police. After the court case, social services started to pursue Amber, with the aim of having her children removed. Police said the victims were from chaotic, council estate backgrounds and as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang. Department: 7014 LCMT CASE MGMT. I'm only a kid - why is it always me? 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. 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