‘Wrongly prosecuted' grooming gang victims denied compensation
Victims of grooming gangs are being denied compensation on the basis of criminal convictions connected to their abuse, even though campaigners say the prosecutions were wrongly brought.
Sarah Champion, the MP for Rotherham, where the grooming scandal was exposed, said it was a 'grave injustice' that girls who had been raped, abused and exploited were being refused compensation by the state.
Champion criticised the failure to overhaul the compensation scheme and ensure victims with convictions were not automatically excluded from payment — a key recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
This week, Baroness Casey of Blackstock's review into child sexual grooming revealed that the lives of victims had been blighted not just by their abusers and a culture of denial, but because they were then lumbered with criminal convictions connected to grooming. Casey spoke to victims who were unable to open a bank account or go on their children's school trips because of a criminal record, and said some had been 'criminalised for offences committed under coercion'.
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The Sun
24 minutes ago
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Grimsby Town star, 16, and dad died after Mercedes went ‘airborne' before plunging into canal during tragic test drive
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BBC News
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Solar on roofs not farms, says Reform UK in North Northamptonshire
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