Official ‘broke her promise to victim’
CHILDREN’S services chief Joyce Thacker failed to keep a promise to meet with a victim of Rotherham’s grooming gang, it was alleged last night.
Lizzie, then 13, was raped more than 50 times and gave evidence in court against her five attackers.
After they were jailed in 2010, she said Mrs Thacker told her the pair would meet to talk about social services’ failures to listen to her cries for help.
It was understood she and her family would be given answers to their questions, such as why her mother’s claims that Lizzie was being groomed when she was just a ‘little girl’ were repeatedly ignored. But the meeting never happened.
Last night Lizzie, not her real name, said Mrs Thacker ‘ needs to be sacked’ from her £115,000a-year job, adding: ‘ If I ever got my hands on her I would struggle to contain myself. I hate her… she told me that we would discuss why the social services sat back and watched it happening but we never had the meeting.’ A Rotherham Council spokesman said: ‘Joyce Thacker… confirmed she would be more than happy to meet with any victims who have suffered this horrific abuse.’