A grooming gang survivor who was raped and abused by at least 50 men was handed back to her attackers by police after she mistakenly told officers she was an adult.
Fiona Goddard was groomed by a gang of Asian men from the age of 14 after she fled a children's home in Bradford in 2008. What started with a request for a lighter spiralled into a horrific ordeal during which she was trafficked to Blackburn, Rotherham, Rochdale, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Oldham, MailOnline reports.
Police Return Teenager to Abusers
Two years after the abuse began, police officers traced the then 16 year old Ms Goddard to a property in Bradford. Inside were seven men of Pakistani heritage – some half-dressed – sat in a squalid lounge littered with drugs and empty alcohol bottles, reports Yorkshire Live.
It was in these appalling conditions that these men violently raped and abused the teenager. Officers placed Ms Goddard in the back of a police car, but having been given large quantities of drugs and alcohol, she mistakenly told them she was 18.
Despite being recorded on the police database as an under-age victim of child sexual exploitation, the officers returned her to the very property she had just been removed from. As they dropped Ms Goddard back at the address, one officer told her abusers: 'She says she's over-age – enjoy your night, lads.'
Scale of Abuse and Official Failings
It has now come to light that at least 60 police officers were allegedly linked to the grooming gang – either through direct participation or by overlooking the sexual crimes occurring. They have compiled The Network Map, which outlines the scale of interconnection between groups who sexually exploit children, criminal gangs, extended families, establishments and 'notable individuals', including councillors and police officers, MailOnline reports.
The researchers behind the report have chosen to stay anonymous due to concerns about reprisals from the gangs. The database merged criminal trial transcripts, police and local authority records, survivor testimonies and media reports.
Over 1,000 perpetrators have been identified and more than 3,000 connections have been revealed between them. A review by Baroness Louise Casey found that Asian Muslim men were overwhelmingly responsible for the abuse of thousands of mostly white girls.
Survivor's Ongoing Ordeal
Yet being sent back to her abusers wasn't the sole instance Ms Goddard came across the police – and she was regularly treated as culpable for what was being done to her. By the age of 15, Ms Goddard had become pregnant by one of her rapists and gave birth days after her 16th birthday.
However, her newborn daughter was taken from her care and placed for adoption after the authorities decided she was a 'volatile person'. Nevertheless, the abuse persisted for another two years, with officers laying the blame at her door, while Ms Goddard was powerless to speak out owing to the violent threats she faced from the men involved.
Only after years of fighting for action by Ms Goddard did the nine gang members face justice, and in 2019 they were handed sentences totalling more than 130 years at Bradford Crown Court. They were convicted of a string of sexual offences, rape, and grooming against two vulnerable teenage girls who were living in care in Bradford.
Ms Goddard stated the prosecution was one she had to battle 'tooth and nail for', having repeatedly reported the case to police for five years.
'Over the years, from 2008 and 2013, I was found in cars with men and they [police] said I was the reason society was going downhill by putting working-class men in danger,' she said. 'I was called a child prostitute. I was accused of exchanging sex in return for gifts by 14. And described as running a brothel by 17.
'Repeatedly they said I was streetwise and knew how to look after myself; that even though I was a missing person it wasn't a concern and they downgraded it. Then someone highlighted I had been on the child sex exploitation watchlist for a while so they upgraded it to medium. There was a lot of stuff like that where it wasn't taken seriously.'
Ms Goddard bravely chose to waive her right to anonymity following the case as she 'didn't want people to think this was a reason to be ashamed anymore'.
'I didn't do anything wrong,' she said.
Sentences Handed Down
Basharat Khaliq, known as Bash, was convicted of five counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration. He received a 20-year prison sentence. He received 16 years for each of the five counts of rape, to run concurrently, and four years for assault by penetration, to run consecutively.
Saeed Akhtar, known as Sid, was convicted of one charge of rape and two charges of causing or inciting child prostitution. He received a 20-year prison sentence. Naveed Akhtar, known as Nav, was convicted of two counts of rape and acquitted of a third allegation of rape. He received a 17-year prison sentence.
Parvaze Ahmed, known as Pav, was convicted of three charges of rape. He received a 17-year prison sentence. Izar Hussain, known as Billy Joe Joe, was convicted of one rape and one attempted rape, and cleared of two rapes. He was handed a 16-year sentence.
Kieran Harris was convicted of two counts of rape. Described by one of his victims as 'an evil, pixie-faced man', he was sentenced to 17 years. Fahim Iqbal was convicted of aiding and abetting rape. He received a seven-year prison sentence.
Mohammed Usman, known as Manny, was convicted of two counts of rape. He received a 17-year prison sentence. Zeeshan Ali, known as Twinny or T, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault. He was handed an 18-month jail term.
