Senior police officers ‘ignored grooming gangs in Rotherham because they prioritised other crimes to hit Home Office targets’, leaked report reveals_Nhy
Police officers prioritised crimes like burglary and robbery to hit Home Office targets while failing to protect girls from grooming gangs, a leaked report has revealed.
South Yorkshire Police focused on crimes such as burglary and robbery to hit targets set by the Home Office during the 2000s, according to a police watchdog investigation.
The findings were in a report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) that was completed in June 2022, but never published.
The report, seen by The Telegraph said targets by the Home Office were ‘very prescriptive’ and that vehicle, robbery and burglary crimes were seen as a priority which constabularies were assessed on.
These were used as a national key performance indicator for police forces and was identified as a reason that child sexual exploitation was never a high priority.
The IOPC report came after a complaint from youth services manager Jayne Senior, who helped bring to light the young girls who were victims of grooming gangs in Rotherham.
Former police officers said in the IOPC report that child sexual exploitation was ‘never brought to their attention’ and reject claims that performance targets made them turn a blind eye.
However the report found that some of the men who were jailed for grooming girls were known to South Yorkshire Police.
The IOPC report came after a complaint from Jayne Senior, who helped bring to light the young girls who were victims of grooming gangs in Rotherham.
Earlier this week home secretary Yvette Cooper launched small-scale local investigations into grooming gangs
Stock image. The report said crimes such as burglary and robbery were prioritised to hit targets set by the Home Office during the 2000s
From as early as 2001, ‘named perpetrators’ of child sexual exploitation and their victims were discussed at meetings, the report said.
Officers failed to act and the same individuals continued abusing young girls until they were convicted in 2016, it added.
Ms Senior said she felt under pressure from the IOPC not to talk about the findings of the report in 2022 and was threatened with legal action by senior police officers.
She said when she submitted a complaint to South Yorkshire Police, she was turned away and told continued complaints would be marked as ‘vexatious’.
Georgina Halford-Hall, chief executive of Whistleblowers UK said the report failed to hold anyone to account for the failures which led to the scandal.
She said a national inquiry should be carried out by a new, independent body called the Office of the Whistleblower.
Asked why the report was never published, an IOPC spokesman pointed to Operation Linden, a separate inquiry carried out into grooming in Rotherham, which was published in 2022.
They said: ‘Our priority from the very start of Operation Linden was always the welfare of the survivors, who showed incredible bravery in coming forward and throughout the whole process.
Rotherham grooming gang: Tayab Dad (top left), Amjad Ali (bottom right), and Matloob Hussain (bottom left) have already been released. Just the ringleader, Basharat Dad (top right), will remain behind bars if Nasar Dad (top centre) and Mohammed Sadiq (bottom centre) are freed by the parole board in upcoming hearings
‘It’s completely inaccurate to suggest that investigators were told not to investigate senior South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officers – there was a dedicated investigation within Operation Linden which was focused solely on senior officers within the force and, had we found any indication of corruption, it would have been rigorously pursued.
‘And there was no attempt to bury that report. Like the other investigation reports, it could not be published due to the very personal information and data included within it. That is why we produced one overarching report, published in 2022, detailing our findings and recommendations.
‘We concluded that SYP failed to protect vulnerable children and young people at that time and to recognise the scale of the offending and effectively tackle it. We found systemic issues including failures in leadership, lack of professional curiosity, cultural issues and gaps in skills and training. The force acknowledged past failings and the focus needs to be on learning from those mistakes.
A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: ‘The Terms of Reference for any IOPC investigation is set by them. The decision on whether to publish the report is entirely a matter for the IOPC.’
Earlier this week, Labour was accused of a ‘conspiracy of silence’ over grooming gangs after MPs for areas hit by the issue refused to say whether they back a national inquiry.
More than 20 MPs for constituencies in which child rape and sexual abuse has occurred were contacted by the Daily Mail.
But only three answered our question, sparking accusations of a ‘dereliction of duty’ by those who failed to reply.
Of those who responded, two – Luke Myer and Shaun Davies, the MPs for Middlesbrough South and Telford respectively – backed a national inquiry.
Rochdale grooming gang leader Qari Abdul Rauf is out of jail and still has not been deported
It brings the tally of Labour MPs who have broken ranks over the issue to five.
The MPs were asked if they supported a national inquiry after colleagues Sarah Champion, Rotherham’s MP, and Rochdale’s Paul Waugh became the first to U-turn on their initial opposition.
On Thursday, the Government launched small-scale local investigations into grooming gangs.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced five reviews into badly hit towns but they were quickly branded ‘toothless’ because they will not have the power to summon witnesses.
A vote on whether to have a national inquiry was held last week but it was an amendment attached to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, meaning Labour MPs likely didn’t vote in favour as it would have killed off the entire Bill.
