Grooming gang victim Fiona Goddard has been forced to flee her home after receiving warnings her home would be firebombed. The chilling arson threat came as one of her abusers is due to be released from jail this week after serving just half his sentence.
In the months leading up to the release of sex offender Mohammed Usman, mother of five Fiona has been subjected to a barrage of violent threats prompting an urgent extraction from her Bradford home by police and social services over the weekend. She is now staying with her children in emergency accommodation while the authorities look to find her a permanent new home.
Threats and Relocation
West Yorkshire Police confirmed they are investigating the alleged abuse and have arrested a woman, aged 33, who has been released on bail.
Despite her relief at feeling safe, Fiona, 33, said: “I don't feel like it should be a victim's responsibility to have to keep relocating to make sure they're safe. If a victim is not safe with the perpetrator on the outside, then the perpetrator shouldn't be let out.”
Fiona, who bravely waived her legal right to life-long anonymity to show other victims of abuse “there is nothing to be ashamed of”, was abused while living in a children’s home in Bradford when she was 14. She was the victim of a nine-strong grooming gang who were convicted of 22 offences including rape and inciting child prostitution after the men used drink, drugs and violence to groom and sexually exploit her.
Usman's Sentence and Release
Usman, 38, was finally convicted in February 2019 of two counts of rape and was originally handed a 17-year sentence for his horrific crimes, but a series of systemic decisions drastically reduced his time behind bars. His sentence was reduced to 15 years on appeal, with the rapist controversially citing “charity work in Pakistan” completed while he was on the run from rape charges as mitigation.
And because he and fellow predators were sentenced in 2019, they narrowly missed the 2020 legislative changes that now require major violent and sexual offenders to serve 67% of their time behind bars. As a result, Usman will walk free this week after serving just seven and a half years. And four more of Fiona’s abusers are slated for early release under the same 50% rule over the next twelve months.
Over recent months ahead of Usman’s impending release, Fiona became the target of a vicious harassment campaign. Believed associates of the gang threatened to set her house on fire, whilst she received a number of messages, with one allegedly warning: “My boys are out soon... we’ll come see you soon and serve some real justice.”
Victim's Response and MP's Reaction
That threat prompted Fiona, with the help of the authorities, to move away from the West Yorkshire city she has called home her entire life. She was moved so quickly she was only able to grab her and her children’s clothes.
She said: “The government need to realise that early release policies turn innocent victims' lives upside down. It doesn't feel like justice. Usman was given a lengthy sentence because it was relevant to what he had put me through. But yet he has served just seven and a half of it. What does that say to me? It feels insulting.”
“When I sat in the court and heard the sentence, I was so positive. But I feel like I’ve had it taken away from me again. The police investigation was nearly as long as the time he has served in prison. There are at least four more of my abusers being released in the next 12 months.”
West Yorkshire MP Robbie Moore has been involved in the process of helping Fiona relocate and, whilst relieved that she and her family are safe, is furious she has been forced to move. He said: “The whole situation absolutely stinks. It’s absolutely outrageous that Fiona is being put in this situation in the first place.”
The Conservative MP for Keighley, who sits on the Home Affairs select committee, revealed he wrote a letter to new Prime Minister Andy Burnham when Fiona got the call, confirming Usman was going to be released and demanded he step in and stop it. He added: “I have had no response. But the fact he's been released after only doing 50% of his term is completely outrageous. I just think that absolutely stinks. My view is that anyone sentenced should be serving their full-time regardless of what it is, but particularly when it's a serious sexual offence and gang related grooming.”
“I don’t think the public really understand that the PM ending the early release of serious offenders only means the early release to ease overcrowding at 33%. Everyone else is still getting out early after serving only 50% of their time.”
National Inquiry and Police Statement
In June it was announced that Bradford and Keighley would be among the first places to be investigated in the national inquiry, along with Oldham and London. The inquiry, which will be chaired by Baroness Anne Longfield, will compel individuals and institutions to explain what they “did or did not do to protect children from being sexually abused”.
Fiona has previously demanded that accountability is needed from people in safeguarding roles who “weren't just turning a blind eye to the children's abuse, but added and facilitated it”. Baroness Casey, who last year carried out an audit into grooming gangs, said that authorities had “shied away from” the ethnicity of grooming gangs, allowing the continued abuse of hundreds of vulnerable girls. She said state agencies should be held to account for any part they played in allowing crimes to go undetected and unpunished.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Police are investigating a report of online harassment. A woman aged 33 has been arrested on suspicion of harassment and has been bailed pending further enquiries.”
