Changes for page Grooming Gangs
Last modified by Ryan C on 2025/08/04 03:54
From 6.19 to 6.20
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... ... @@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ 20 20 * **Oxford (Operation Bullfinch, 2013):** Police in Oxfordshire uncovered a network of men who had been sexually abusing girls in the town of Oxford between 2004 and 2012. In 2013, seven men (all of South Asian Muslim background, mostly Pakistani heritage) were convicted of rape, child prostitution, and trafficking. The victims – six girls aged 11–15 – were repeatedly raped and subjected to extreme cruelty (including branding and beatings). An **independent Serious Case Review** in 2015 found that authorities had opportunities to intervene but largely miscategorized the girls as “problematic” teenagers making “lifestyle choices.” It concluded that the perpetrators’ ethnicity (Pakistani) had not been the primary reason for the authorities’ failings – instead, the girls’ vulnerability and complaints were simply not taken seriously enough. Nonetheless, like elsewhere, **ethnicity was rarely recorded in files**, and there was confusion over whether to treat it as a factor. The Oxford case prompted improved multi-agency work in that county and became a case study in training for social workers nationwide.{{footnote}} https://www.channel4.com/news/oxford-abuse-operation-bullfinch-report-thames-valley-police{{/footnote}} 21 21 * **Telford (1980s–2010s):** Media investigations have alleged that Telford (a town in Shropshire) might have had up to 1,000 grooming gang victims since the 1980s, making it one of the worst examples. In 2018 these claims led Telford’s council to commission an independent inquiry. Published in 2022, the inquiry (led by Tom Crowther QC) confirmed that at least several hundred children were sexually exploited over decades and that agencies repeatedly failed to protect them. It found that police operations (such as Operation Chalice in 2013) had convicted some offenders – seven men of Pakistani origin were jailed in 2013 – but many perpetrators remained free due to police inaction. The report detailed horrific abuse, including girls being trafficked between Telford and other cities, and **multiple chances missed** to stop known offenders. It also highlighted how police and council staff **feared being accused of racism**, with the report stating "“Exploitation was not investigated because of nervousness about race,” because the perpetrators were mainly reported to be Asian men, he concluded."{{footnote}} https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/telford-grooming-gang-children-abused-b2121490.html{{/footnote}} which contributed to reluctance in the mid-2000s to publicize or crack down on predominantly Asian grooming networks. Telford authorities were found to have //“underplayed the scale of abuse”// and even at times misled the public about it. The 2022 inquiry called for a candid acknowledgement of past mistakes and more robust safeguarding. Multiple girls were even killed to silence others. {{footnote}} https://www.newenglishreview.org/father-of-murdered-telford-teenager-lucy-lowe-is-told-to-be-careful-in-a-chilling-threat-sent-after-he-spoke-out-about-his-fears-his-daughter-was-groomed/?print=print{{/footnote}} 22 22 * **Huddersfield (Operation Tendersea, 2017–2018):** In West Yorkshire, a massive investigation into grooming in Huddersfield led to 20 men (mostly of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin) being convicted in 2018 for raping and abusing a group of teenage girls. The trials had to be split into three because of the number of defendants. In total, the Huddersfield gang received over 220 years in prison sentences. The case stood out for its scale (one of the largest single grooming gang prosecutions in the UK) and again showed similar patterns – vulnerable young girls, often from broken homes, were lured by older men, given alcohol or drugs, and then repeatedly assaulted, sometimes by several men in one night. An added controversy was the temporary reporting ban on the case, which, when broken by an activist, led to a high-profile contempt of court incident. Huddersfield’s case fed into the narrative that these crimes were occurring in many northern towns beyond just the notorious examples. {{footnote}} https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-65276358{{/footnote}} 23 -* **Newcastle (Operation Sanctuary, 2014–2017):** In contrast to some other towns, **Newcastle’s grooming gang** investigation revealed a more ethnically mixed group of offenders. In 2017, as part of Operation Sanctuary, Newcastle authorities convicted 17 men and one woman for grooming and abusing at least 22 girls and young women. The perpetrators in that network included people of Pakistani, Indian, Iraqi-Kurdish, Bangladeshi, and Eastern European background as well as white British individuals. This diversity underscored that grooming gangs were //not exclusive to one ethnicity//, even if certain areas saw particular groups predominating. Newcastle’s approach was cited as proactive: they ran a covert operation with a victim who acted as an informant, resulting in a wave of arrests. Nonetheless, a serious case review after Operation Sanctuary still found that earlier warnings had been missed and victims had been dismissed as “child prostitutes” by some officials – echoing themes seen elsewhere. Newcastle’s police and council responded with one of the country’s first “Complex Abuse” units dedicated to such cases and made efforts to share lessons learned nationally. {{footnote}} https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-40879427{{/footnote}} 23 +* **Newcastle (Operation Sanctuary, 2014–2017):** In contrast to some other towns, **Newcastle’s grooming gang** investigation revealed a more ethnically mixed group of offenders. In 2017, as part of Operation Sanctuary, Newcastle authorities convicted 17 men and one woman for grooming and abusing at least 22 girls and young women. The perpetrators in that network included people of Pakistani, Indian, Iraqi-Kurdish, Bangladeshi, and Eastern European background as well as white British individuals. This diversity underscored that grooming gangs were //not exclusive to one ethnicity//, even if certain areas saw particular groups predominating. Newcastle’s approach was cited as proactive: they ran a covert operation with a victim who acted as an informant, resulting in a wave of arrests. Nonetheless, a serious case review after Operation Sanctuary still found that earlier warnings had been missed and victims had been dismissed as “child prostitutes” by some officials – echoing themes seen elsewhere. Newcastle’s police and council responded with one of the country’s first “Complex Abuse” units dedicated to such cases and made efforts to share lessons learned nationally. {{footnote}} https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-40879427{{/footnote}} 24 24 25 25 **Other Towns:** Group-based child sexual exploitation has come to light in numerous other locales across England and Wales. Cases in **Derby**, **Bristol**, **Aylesbury**, **Peterborough**, **Halifax**, **Oxford**, **Blackburn**, **Keighley**, **Banbury** and more have led to convictions of grooming networks since 2010. For example, in Aylesbury, six men (of South Asian ethnicity) were convicted in 2015 of abusing girls as young as 12; in Bristol, a 2014 case involved 13 Somali-background men exploiting teenagers; in Peterborough, a gang of mainly Czech Roma men was convicted in 2015 (Operation Erle). Each case exposed remarkably similar failings: victims were often known to social services, flagged as at-risk, or repeatedly reported missing from care, yet their abuse continued due to poor communication and disbelief. Collectively, these cases demonstrate that grooming gang crimes were not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of organized child sexual exploitation that many authorities struggled to comprehend or were reluctant to openly address. 26 26
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