Offenders were identified to police but not prosecuted, WHY?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news//

/// A child welfare expert, speaking under condition of anonymity, said that agencies’ reluctance to tackle such street-grooming networks was “the biggest child protection scandal of our time”. ///

[anotheoldgit]

Gromit

There is more on this in today's Times, have you got access to it?

[AB Editor]

Only just had time to come back and read the report kindly shared by Gromit.

I am always wary of suggesting the police wouldn't arrest/prosecute because of ethnicity, as I am here.

From that report it sounds like a cover-up to me. Maybe there are family ties between the group and members of the "investigating" police force? Or the council?

Of course, this is wild speculation :)

[anotheoldgit]

AB Editor

Seems rather strange that other News agencies are not commenting on the Times report.

[anotheoldgit]

More harrowing details emerge due to the Times investigation

http://www.dailymail....ng-wrote-herself.html

/// The news comes as research, reports and case files revealed police turned a blind eye to allegations of sexual abuse of white girls. ///

/// And it was claimed council officials were desperate to cover up any racial link to the abuse of young girls. ///

/// The research shows that a string of warnings dating back as far as 2000 were ignored by the authorities. In many cases, police action was taken only against the victims. ///

/// Since the revelations there have been calls for a public inquiry into the sex grooming by gangs and the trafficking of girls. ///

Is it not now time for an inquiry on the scale of the Stephen Lawrence affair, to take place?

[Gromit]

Sorry AOG, only just seen your request. I do not subscribe to The Times. If you want to see behind their paywall, just copy and paste their teaser opening paragraph. Usually someone somewhere has re-postered the full story in a blog or website. That is how I was able to find the original Story.

[Gromit]

AOG,
Part two was a lot more difficult to find, but you can read it here...

http://rotherhampolit...-part-two-amys-story/

[Gromit]

AOG,

There are rumours that Murdoch's papers are losing influence because they are behind the paywall, and this might soon change.

http://www.telegraph....-parasite-Google.html

[AB Editor]

Thanks again Gromit.

[anotheoldgit]

I also thanked you Gromit, but it seems to have gone away somewhere.

[Canary42]

Plain brown envelopes.

[AB Editor]

One of the comments linked to this statement:

http://www.rotherham....therham_mbc_statement

To come back to the original question AOG - it looks like the police were incompetent, unwilling and probably under-funded.

[anotheoldgit]

AB Editor

Yes I also read that statement, did you also read some of the comments from the Rotherham residents, here is one such one.

/// ■In response to recent articles in The Times newspaper, Rotherham MBC has issued the following statements – rotherham.gov.uk/news/article/7… 10 hours ago ///

/// And this is the appalling, vomit-inducing, handwringing, pink-n-fluffy, head-tilted-to-one-side piece of RMBC-speak that is full of: inputs, outputs, outcomes, partners, stakeholders, action plans, strategies, KPIs, BVIs, you-go-first-no-you-go-no-you-go, league tables, promises, promises, promises John Innes that infests and infects those toxic-salaried RMBC Corn Fed Grunters, Muppets and Clowns in whom we put our trust to keep our children safe from harm and sexual exploitation ///

Don't know whether or not such expletives would be allowed on AnswerBank, but I think it gets the point over.

A much calmer but equally annoyed response.

/// Of course the scandal proves the leadership cover up and these people should resign immediately. How ever more than anything it proves the corruption of party politics, and the Stalinist type leadership of the Rotherham Labour Party. In all of the ten or so years that this disgusting scandal has been going on not one Labour Councillor has broken ranks, one can only presume they are cowards. In any other town or city there would have been at least one whistle blower, but not in Rotherham; they have all been kept well in hand. This whole sorry mess gives credence to power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There has never been any kind of credible opposition to labour in Rotherham, so they believe they can carry on doing what ever they want to with impunity. What we the people should do is attend next months local council meetings, parish and town, and make our feelings known. We should demand that our local councils write to RMBC condemning their cover up and calling on the leadership to resign. At the same time we should question the none actions of our local borough councillors. In Dinnington we have two female borough councillors and both of them are heavily involved in a charity called Safe at Last it helps children who have run away from home. The kind of vulnerable children that these despicable people have been praying on; we have not heard one word from them on this matter. I can assure you at the next Dinnington council meeting I will be questioning them closely on their lack of action. It is not just the leaders who are culpable but all of the councillors, they are all as guilty by their none action. They should all resign forth with. ///

[AB Editor]

The response was very weak from the council.

[anotheoldgit]

AB Editor

It would appear there was a reluctant by the police the CPS and others to approach the concerns over this case back in May.

Incidentally Ed, do you know why this thread was removed?

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1132200.html

/// Police have played down the racial backgrounds of the men, saying the girls – mostly from broken or ‘chaotic’ homes – were targeted because they were vulnerable, not because they were white. ///

/// Backing them, Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the home affairs select committee, yesterday told the Today programme that highlighting the Pakistani origin of all but one of the gang risked giving ammunition to the far-Right. ///

/// But Martin Narey, former chief executive of children’s charity Barnardo’s, told the programme there was a ‘real problem’ which had to be confronted. ///

/// He was backed by Ann Cryer, a former Labour MP in Keighley, West Yorkshire. She said: ‘This is an absolute scandal.

/// They (the police and CPS) were petrified of being called racist and so reverted to the default of political correctness. They had a greater fear of being perceived in that light than in dealing with the issues in front of them.’ ///