Innocents abroad are preyed upon in the UK
ously ignored, Sara is both relieved and unsurprised when the true extent of the children’s abuse and betrayal is finally uncovered.
The terrible truth sends shockwaves through the police force. Now DC Maggie Oliver (Lesley Sharp) and the police team need to persuade the girls to revisit the horror they suffered and testify.
Maggie is sceptical as she has been here before, but she manages to persuade two of the girls, Amber (Ria Zmitrowicz) and Ruby (Liv Hill) to tell their story and promises to support them through to trial. Meanwhile Sara persuades Holly to testify.
As the ordeal of the court case finally draws to a close, Holly, Amber and Ruby are faced with trying to rebuild their fragile lives and putting behind them the horrors they suffered for so long.
Sara and Maggie, who fought hard to protect the girls and bring the perpetrators to justice, also face an uncertain future. Can their experiences stop institutional failure from happening again?
Writer Nicole Taylor says: “Whatever I thought I knew about what had happened in Rochdale, I knew nothing until I met the girls and their families.
“Listening to them was the beginning of understanding – not just of the terrible suffering they experienced, but of the courage it took to persist and persist over years, in telling authorities who didn’t want to know, and ultimately participate in the court proceedings that brought justice.”