Inquiry Targets Three Major Unexposed Child Sex Scandals
The grooming gang inquiry will examine what one leading lawyer believes could be Britain's three biggest unexposed child sex scandals – in London, Oldham and Bradford – that authorities have tried to keep quiet for years. David Greenwood, a partner at Wakefield-based law firm Switalskis Solicitors, has represented hundreds of victims of rape gangs operating across the UK and has helped bring dozens of offenders to justice. However, Greenwood believes the full extent of sex gangs in towns and cities home to some of the UK's largest Asian communities has remained covered up due to council chiefs refusing to launch their own probe.
Similar Patterns in Bradford, Oldham, and London
The situation in Bradford and Oldham is mirrored in London, where Mayor Sadiq Khan has repeatedly resisted demands for the city to launch its own probe into the scandal. While a number of high-profile cases related to these areas have been through the courts, Greenwood believes these have not even scratched the surface of how big the problem has been.
He said: "The women I've been helping in London, Bradford and Oldham have been repeatedly refused inquiries into safeguarding failings. My hunch is it's because councils, police and NHS know the scale and seriousness of the failings and wanted to avoid the deep embarrassment and shame it will generate. The public will now find out how awful the grooming and abuse has been and how badly our public bodies let down our girls and some boys."
Greenwood added: "Alongside these inquiries, I'll be pushing for accountability and proper support for the women harmed."
Bradford Could Be 'Bigger Than Rotherham'
Greenwood has campaigned for years for Bradford Council to implement a Professor Alexis Jay-style inquiry, insisting "Bradford is going to be bigger than Rotherham when it all comes out." Rotherham remains the child sex shame town of Britain after it emerged that at least 1,400 girls were abused on an "industrial scale" by gangs of men, predominantly of Pakistani heritage. But Greenwood says this could be the "tip of the iceberg" in Bradford, Oldham and London.
He added: "The police are doing some really great work in the city, and pursuing investigations and prosecutions. It's historic stuff - anywhere from mid 1990s to the mid-Noughties. I can't say for certain but...all the cases that I deal with, either Rotherham, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Batley...they all have a Bradford connection. The girls were moved to Bradford, in and out of the city, to houses and hotels there."
Asian Population and Grooming Links
Greenwood noted: "There is also a far bigger Asian population in Bradford than these other areas - I don't want to stereotype the whole situation but we have to face facts that these guys involved are from that kind of background. It stands to reason that Bradford is hiding a massive issue and this needs to be exposed." He praised West Yorkshire Police and prosecutors for their work, saying: "We have had loads of people through the courts and West Yorkshire Police have been brilliant, and prosecutors have taken some very bold decisions on cases - including taking on cases where just one or two complainants have been abused by dozens of perpetrators - and against the odds have succeeded. They need a lot of credit for that."
£65 Million Probe with Legal Powers
Greenwood previously said that unless Bradford turns the spotlight fully on itself, the issue can never be properly tackled. But now the £65 million probe will take the matter into its own hands as it explores how grooming gangs operated freely and the manner in which police, councils, health services, social care services and schools responded.
Wednesday's announcement confirmed which areas will first face so-called local investigations – where serious failures have been identified in response to child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs. Former children's commissioner for England Baroness Anne Longfield is heading up the inquiry, which has the legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence and require organisations to hand over documents. Any evidence of crimes uncovered will be referred to Operation Beaconport, the national police operation launched last year to review hundreds of previously closed investigations.
