Do the "Asian/Muslim/Pakistani/Bangladeshi" “leaders” have eyes, ears ad brains and sense? Another item of news that should put a stop to all talk of “leadership” in the affected “communities”.
[To be continued]
From the Daily MaiI web site which published the item just 10 minutes ago at 2200 gmt:
As nine men face jail for grooming girls: Why did no one listen to teenage victim of sex gang?
- Opportunity to catch the gang missed after complaint four years ago
- As many as 47 vulnerable girls were plied with alcohol, gifts and money
- They were then passed around for sex with 'several men a day'
- At lease one victim forced to have sex with 20 men in one night, police say
- Teenagers targeted because they were vulnerable and from broken homes
- Gang used white girl, 15, known as 'The Honey Monster' to recruit victims
- Convicted men range in age from 22 to 59
- All are from Pakistan, apart from one from Afghanistan
- Muslim leader warns that some British Pakistani men 'think that white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused without a second thought'
- Labour MP Keith Vaz warns against opening Pandora's Box over race relations by blaming a particular race or religion for grooming girls
A sex grooming gang which plied teenage girls with alcohol before raping them could have been stopped two years before their sickening crimes were finally uncovered.
As many as 47 vulnerable girls were given alcohol, gifts and money before being passed around to have sex with ‘several men a day, several times a week’.
At least one victim was forced to have sex with 20 men in one night when she was drunk, police said. Two became pregnant as a result of their horrifying ordeal – one of whom was only 13 and had an abortion.
Scroll down for video
Evil: Abdul Qayyum, left, 43, was found guilty of conspiracy. Mohammed Amin, right, 45, was found guilty of conspiracy and sexual assault
Monsters: Abdul Aziz, left, 41, was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking for sexual exploitation, but cleared of two counts of rape. Mohammed Sajid, right, 35, was found guilty of conspiracy, trafficking, one count of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child
Scum: Hamid Safi, left, 22, was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking but not guilty of two counts of rape. Adil Khan, right, 42, was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking for sexual exploitation
Awaiting sentence: Kabeer Hassan, left, 25, of Oldham, Greater Manchester, was found guilty of conspiracy and rape. Abdul Rauf, right, 43, of Rochdale, was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking for sexual exploitation
Yesterday nine men, all but one originally from Pakistan, were facing lengthy jail terms after being convicted of a string of offences, ranging from rape to sex trafficking.
But it can be revealed that a golden opportunity to smash the ring was missed nearly four years ago after a 15-year-old girl told police she had been raped in 2008.
Over the next two years, dozens of white teenagers were abused by older men in the gang, which was centred around takeaways in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
A review of the earlier case in 2010 sparked a wave of arrests and charges.
ISLAMIC LEADER: 'PAKISTANI COMMUNITY ELDERS IGNORED GROOMING'
Warning: Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation said 'there should be no silence in addressing the issue of race'
The leader of the Ramadhan Foundation has accused Pakistani community elders of 'burying their heads in the sand' on the issue of on-street grooming.
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the group, said police should not let the 'issue of race' stop them from addressing the issue.
The Ramadhan Foundation is a Manchester-based moderate Muslim youth group that works for 'peaceful co-existence and dialogue for all communities'.
Mr Shafiq said: 'There is a significant problem for the British Pakistani community, there is an over-representation amongst recent convictions in the crime of on-street grooming, there should be no silence in addressing the issue of race as this is central to the actions of these criminals.
'They think that white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused without a second thought; it is this sort of behaviour that is bringing shame on our community.
'I urge the police and the councils not to be frightened to address this issue, there is a strong lesson that you cannot ignore race or be over sensitive.'
He added: 'I have been overwhelmed by the support the Ramadhan Foundation has been given by young people for our campaign on child grooming but concerned that community elders are once again burying their heads in the sand, this concerns us all and we must speak out.
'The community elders need to learn from the reaction of young people and reject any attempt to silence the reaction from our community.'
He said the police would need to 'reflect on their failures' in this case.
'Finally the far-Right and fascist movements are not welcome to Rochdale, we reject their division and hatred and it has no place in a tolerant and diverse society.
'These criminals have brought shame on themselves, their families and our community'
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation
'We will learn lessons from this case but not allow outsiders to divide us,' Mr Shafiq added.
But Asian Labour MP Keith Vaz warned that blaming a particular race or religion for grooming young girls for sex risks opening up a Pandora's box over race relations.
Mr Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said the root causes of the criminality against young girls needs to be addressed and the focus taken off the ethnic origin, religion or geographical location of those involved.
Mr Shafiq also paid tribute to the bravery of the victims. 'Without their contribution justice would not have been possible,' he said.
'Today's guilty verdicts are to be welcomed and I hope the message goes out that if you engage in these crimes, you will be caught and brought to justice.
'These criminals have brought shame on themselves, their families and our community.'
The case is the latest involving men of predominantly Asian origin picking up young girls for sex.
Former Home Secretary Jack Straw last year accused some Pakistani men of seeing white girls as ‘easy meat’ for sexual abuse following the jailing of another grooming gang in Derby. The latest case was conducted against a backdrop of racial politics.
Tensions were exploited by far-Right groups who waved anti-Muslim placards outside Liverpool Crown Court and marched on the takeaways named in the case three days after the trial started.
A barrister for the men was punched outside court by a protester, while tweets by BNP leader Nick Griffin sparked extraordinary claims – later dismissed – of a ‘mole’ inside the jury room.
Arriving at court: Mohamed Sajid, left, was convicted while Qamar Shazad, right, was acquitted
Despite this, police were at pains to play down the racial element last night.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle, of Greater Manchester Police, insisted that getting ‘hung up on race and ethnicity issues’ detracted from what was simple child sex abuse.
Not guilty: Liaquat Shah arrives at Liverpool Crown Court for a previous hearing
‘There is no evidence to say they were targeted because they were white,’ she said. ‘They were targeted because they were there.’
But some campaign groups argue that to tackle the problem it is vital to recognise that a minority within their community prey on young, white girls.
‘There is a particular problem with groups of Pakistani men who think white girls are worthless,’ said Mohammed Shafiq, director of the Ramadhan Foundation. ‘They think they can use and abuse these girls in this abhorrent sort of way and then discard them.’
The missed chance to save the girls came in August 2008 when the 15-year-old was arrested after smashing the counter at one of the takeaways.
She told officers that two men had subjected her to repeated sexual abuse, plying her with vodka before raping her.
One was the ringleader of the group – a 59-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons. But despite evidence which included DNA swabs from her underwear, a senior CPS lawyer ruled there was no prospect of conviction and the pair were never charged.
As a result, members of the gang were allowed to continue their abuse.
The investigation was only revived after Nazir Afzal was appointed chief crown prosecutor for North West England and examined the file.
Twelve men were arrested in 2010 but many of the girls were too scared to give evidence in court or regarded the men as their boyfriends despite the huge age gap. However five bravely agreed to testify against their abusers.
The abuse began at two takeaways in the Heywood area of Rochdale, including the Balti House (pictured)
Under new ownership: The Tasty Bites takeaway - now renamed Bakar's and sold on to new owners - was the other takeaway at the centre of the scandal
Girls who were reluctant to have sex were held down and raped, the court was told, while some deliberately drank themselves into oblivion to blot out what was happening.
One said she fell asleep after being given alcohol, waking to heavy breathing on her neck as she realised she was being raped.
Another gave evidence of being raped by two men while she was ‘so drunk she was vomiting over the side of the bed’. One 13-year-old victim became pregnant and had the child aborted.
Victims of the abuse were introduced to the men by an older white girl known as the ‘Honey Monster’. She didn’t face charges because lawyers considered her a victim of sexual grooming herself.
Security operation: The 11 men were on trial at Liverpool Crown Court in a case that has shocked the nation
Yesterday the 59-year-old was found guilty of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16 as well as two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, one count of sexual assault and an allegation of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Abdul Aziz, 41, from Rochdale, was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking for sexual exploitation and not guilty of two counts of rape. Kabeer Hassan, 25, of Oldham, was found guilty of conspiracy and rape. Adil Khan, 42, of Rochdale, was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Abdul Rauf, 43, of Rochdale, was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Mohammed Sajid, 35, of Rochdale, was found guilty of conspiracy, trafficking, one count of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child. Abdul Qayyum, 44, of Rochdale, was found guilty of conspiracy. Mohammed Amin, 45, Rochdale, was found guilty of conspiracy and sexual assault. Hamid Safi, 22, was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking but not guilty of two counts of rape.
After the case, chief prosecutor Mr Afzal said he hadn’t had to think twice about reviewing the decision not to press charges and apologised to the girl who blew the whistle. ‘She was let down by the whole system,’ he said.
VICTIM, 15, REVEALS HOW SHE WAS 'LET DOWN' BY POLICE
A victim of the ring said she was 'let down' by police and the Crown Prosecution Service (file picture)
A victim of the ring said she was 'let down' by police and the Crown Prosecution Service because the issue of Asian gangs grooming young white girls was 'unheard of' at the time.
The girl, who was 15 when she was targeted by the gang, reported the abuse to police in August 2008 but the CPS decided not to prosecute because they did not believe a jury would find her 'credible'.
After reporting the abuse she suffered for four more months at the hands of the gang and continued to be forced into having sex by her 'friend' - a teenage girl who was acting as a pimp for the men.
She said the problem got 'worse' after telling the police.
'I felt let down. But I know that they (police) believed me... but... because they said to me at the end that something should have been done but the CPS just would not - what's the word? - prosecute is it?
'It's like, then, in 2008 it weren't really heard of... Asian men with white girls.
'It was just unheard of. I've never heard of it. Now it's going on everywhere. You think of Muslim men as religious and family-minded and just nice people. You don't think... I don't know... you just don't think they'd do things like that.'
The girl, now 20, only escaped the gang in December 2008 when she fell pregnant and moved away. She was then made to wait until August 2009 for the CPS to tell her they were not taking the case to trial.
She called the men who abused her 'evil' and said she hopes they pay for their crimes.
'They ripped away all my dignity and all my last bit of self-esteem and by the end of it I had no emotion whatsoever because I was used to being used and abused daily,' she said.
'It was just blocked out, it was just like it wasn't me any more. They just took everything away and I just think hopefully they'll pay for what they've done.'
Abuse trial that was hijacked by far-Right
- Tweet by BNP leader Nick Griffin nearly led to the case being abandoned
- Trial delayed after two legal counsels attacked outside court
A tweet from BNP leader Nick Griffin almost caused the trial to collapse when it led to allegations of the jury having a 'far-Right bias'
The far-Right attempted to make political capital out of the case – to the extent where it was even suggested a juror may have been passing information to extremists.
Angry protesters demonstrated outside Liverpool Crown Court during the three-month trial.
In one demonstration, a defence barrister and solicitor were assaulted as they left for lunch. They later resigned from the case.
The trial was delayed as a result and the first jury discharged.
Three days into the trial, a 100-strong mob attacked takeaways in Heywood, near Rochdale.
Police were pelted with bricks and windows smashed.
One officer was injured and on February 25, the English Defence League held a protest in Hyde, Greater Manchester.
Matters took a further twist when the jury retired to consider its verdicts last week.
British National Party leader Nick Griffin tweeted: ‘News flash: seven of the Muslim paedophile rapists found guilty in Liverpool’.
At that stage no verdicts had been given, but the trial judge was told Mr Griffin was correct about the deliberations inside the jury room, leading to suspicions of a mole.
Eight of the defence lawyers called for the jury to be discharged, claiming there must have been ‘two-way communication’ between someone in the jury room and the Far Right.
But the judge ruled there was no evidence any juror had acted improperly after inquiries revealed that all electronic equipment had been banned from the jury room.
Mr Griffin could face further action, however, as his posting may have breached strict court orders barring reporting of verdicts before the end of the case.
The 59-year-old ringleader of the gang later branded both the judge and jury ‘racist’ and was eventually barred from returning to court.
After the verdicts were delivered yesterday, he asked his barrister, Simon Nichol, to repeat his allegations.
Last night there was a heavy police presence in Heywood as efforts were taken to avoid a repeat of the violence which broke out on the streets in February.
Beefed up: Police guard the entrance to Liverpool Crown Court after attacks on two barristers by far-Right protesters caused the trial to be delayed by two weeks
VIDEO: VICTIM OF GROOMING GANG SPEAKS OF HER ORDEAL
MOST READ NEWS
'Groggy' girl identical to Madeleine McCann spotted at Costa...
From heaven to Hull: Family kicked out of Bermuda after 20...
New French leader fires a broadside at Britain: You only...
As nine men face jail for grooming girls: Why did no one...
Paralysed woman who completed London Marathon after 16 days...
Video of college student who leapt from roof of 3-storey...
'Respectable' tenants turned our house into a cannabis farm:...
'Hang on! I love you': Last words hang glider's boyfriend...
Thousands of pills filled with powdered human baby flesh...
McCanns left 'horrified' after site uses precious last...
John Travolta accused of lurid sexual advances towards a...
'Evil' mother who locked two youngest children in freezing...
Ask a UK Lawyer OnlineA UK Lawyer Will Answer You Now! Questions Answered Every 9 Seconds.UK-Law.JustAnswer.com
Fixed Fee SolicitorsLandlord and Tenant Eviction Litigation and Conveyancingwww.myevictionlawyer.co.uk
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2141279/Rochdale-child-sex-trial-Nine-men-guilty-grooming-passing-round-young-girls-sex-plying-vodka-drugs.html#ixzz1uJoGBZtO