Grooming is STILL rife in Britain
Stark warning as major report says 700 were abused ... because police blamed the victims
‘Not punished or disrupted’
GROOMING gangs are still sexually abusing girls and young women across the country despite repeated warnings and prosecutions, a shocking report revealed yesterday.
Efforts to stop the exploitation have been hampered by the authorities’ failure to understand why abusers target vulnerable white girls, the investigation found.
The author of a report into the latest abuse scandal yesterday urged the Government to order a national study into the ‘cultural influences’ on the offenders, predominantly from an ‘Asian British’ background.
The inquiry into gangs who groomed 700 girls and women in the North-East came four years after more than a thousand victims were found to have been abused in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The new report revealed:
The authorities effectively gave grooming gangs the green light to sexually abuse by failing to prosecute, instead locking up victims;
One abuser – an illegal immigrant granted indefinite leave to remain – denounced British girls’ ‘lack of morals’ and praised the availability of sex and drugs;
The abuse of vulnerable victims is still ‘taking place across the country’ and ‘all children and vulnerable adults are at risk’.
The serious case review by barrister David Spicer examined the actions of agencies involved in Operation Sanctuary, which was launched by Northumbria Police.
The report identifies failures by police and social services, who repeatedly let down victims by not dealing with the abusers until a change of approach in 2014 – when Operation Sanctuary began.
It ultimately resulted in 112 offenders being jailed for a total of almost 500 years. Among them was an 18-strong grooming gang in Newcastle, whose members were found guilty of rape, sexual assault, trafficking and inciting prostitution. Police believe the case involved over 100 victims.
Mr Spicer said that since the Rotherham abuse scandal was exposed in 2011, there had been a change of attitude by agencies and an injection of resources. But he concluded that more needs to be done to defeat the criminals.
He noted: ‘ Despite comprehensive action to disrupt and prosecute perpetrators and the publicity that this has attracted, sexual exploitation continues. Perpetrators show remarkable persistence in targeting and grooming victims, undeterred by involvement of the police and other agencies.’
The Government promised to ‘look carefully’ at Mr Spicer’s 33 recommendations. He said more powers were also needed to pro- tect adults who were ‘ being targeted, groomed and exploited’.
His report also highlighted that the men responsible for ‘this particular model of abuse’ were from a predominantly ‘ Asian British’ minority background. Significantly, their ‘beliefs are not known’.
Mr Spicer said professionals interviewed for his inquiry ‘emphasised the lack of information about the profile and motivation for abusing’ that continued to hamper understanding how to stop it.
He said national research needs to be conducted so guidance can be published for professionals on the ‘most effective way’ of preventing exploitation.
The report revealed how the authorities previously ignored the gangs of men from Bangladeshi, Indian, Iranian, Iraqi, Kurdish, Turkish, Albanian and Eastern European backgrounds operating in the Newcastle area.
In some cases the victims themselves were placed in secure accommodation. ‘ Deterrent punishments’ were considered against them for being drunk and disorderly or making false allegations when they changed their accounts.
Meanwhile, the abusers who raped young girls and plied them with drugs and alcohol in return for sex were ‘not punished or disrupted’, the report stated.
‘This sent an unhelpful message to perpetrators – they were unlikely to be prosecuted – encouraging an arrogant persistence,’ it said. ‘It also had a significant impact on victims who learnt that nothing would be done.’
Although good recent practice by detectives was identified, their previous negligent approach was laid bare. Police failed to consistently investigate, formally interview and check the backgrounds of suspects, the report revealed.
There were also ‘ no effective inquiries’ about why girls were found with older, unrelated men.
Eight of the victims were interviewed for the inquiry. One said: ‘They should have punished the men that were doing it and not me.’ The girls were horrified to be locked up, with one saying: ‘I was put in a secure placement. I was a victim – why was I there?’
Mr Spicer criticised the ‘lack of professional curiosity’ by agencies and highlighted the failure to collect physical evidence.
Nurses at sexual health services were praised in the report, but it said strict confidentiality rules meant little information could be passed on so identifying potential victims was ‘extremely difficult’.
The report also detailed the failure of the criminal justice system and the Crown Prosecution Service to bring offenders to court. Once cases did go before a judge, Mr Spicer said many victims faced an ordeal when giving evidence. Prosecutors have admitted their approach to the credibility of witnesses was ‘inappropriately cautious’, the report states. It concluded: ‘Unless there is change, which requires national debate, sexual exploitation is not likely to be prevented and early identification will remain difficult.’
Vida Morris, chair of the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board, apologised to the young women who fell into the gangs’ clutches.
She said: ‘We are profoundly sorry for the trauma they have suffered. No one can possibly begin to understand the devastating effects of sexual exploitation unless they have experienced it themselves. They have been brave beyond belief and have helped to make this city a safer place.’
Pat Ritchie, chief executive of Newcastle City Council, said: ‘Sexual exploitation is happening across the country but what we have learned can be used to help others. We know it is still going on in our city, but we are doing everything in our power to prevent it.’
Darren Best, temporary Deputy Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, defended the force and said officers had changed their approach to exploitation victims.
He said: ‘We are not complacent. We need to be consistent and sure that we continue to get it right.’