"In October 2006, aged 12, she had gone to a police station in Oldham, Greater Manchester, to report that she had been sexually assaulted in a graveyard. Staff at the station were dismissive, she told Vaz, and encouraged her to accept a lift home from two men loitering near the doorway. She ended the night in a detached house in a quiet cul-de-sac, where multiple men took turns to rape and abuse her."
"Appearing at the same inquiry, Peter Fahy, then chief constable of Greater Manchester police, insisted the force had a very good record in dealing with vulnerable victims. He added: We have long had operations against things like child prostitution Operation Messenger in places like Oldham. Fahy tempered his comments by saying he was angry that some people got away with offending longer than we would have liked."
A 12-year-old girl reported a sexual assault to police in Oldham and was later gang raped after officers encouraged her to accept a lift. Her case was passed to Operation Messenger, yet only one man, Shakil Chowdhury, was convicted amid a string of investigative failings. Keith Vaz investigated localized grooming gangs while Greater Manchester police defended their record but admitted frustration that offenders evaded justice for longer than desired. Rochdale prosecutions reversed earlier credibility decisions, and concerns emerged about the overrepresentation of men of South Asian origin, though victims reported attackers of varied ethnicities. Investigations and inquiries highlighted operational shortcomings and delayed justice for victims.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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