Asylum seekers and foreign nationals are behind 'significant proportion' of child sex grooming gang cases, Casey report warns
Asylum seekers and foreign nationals are involved in a 'significant proportion' of ongoing police investigations into grooming gangs, an official report has warned.
The long-awaited review by Whitehall troubleshooter Louise Casey was released yesterday after being commissioned at the start of the year.
It found that councils, police forces and the Home Office repeatedly 'shied away' from dealing with 'uncomfortable' questions about the ethnicity of rapists preying on thousands of vulnerable girls.
Baroness Casey last night hit out at 'do-gooders' who tried to bury the facts of such cases, yet only ended up giving racists 'more ammunition '.
Despite years of warnings, she said, the quality of data collected at a national level remained 'woeful and a dereliction of public duty'.
With ethnicity still recorded in only a third of cases, the baroness said it was impossible to be certain about patterns of offending at a national level.
The report also examined a dozen major live police operations into grooming gangs and found a 'significant proportion' of suspects are asylum seekers or were born abroad.
In one case in Newcastle, an asylum seeker convicted of offences 'spoke in a derogatory way about lack of morals in British girls and the ease with which he was able to access sex, drugs and alcohol '.
In other developments:
Downing Street refused to back down on the PM's toxic claim that Conservatives calling for a public inquiry were jumping on a 'far-Right bandwagon', despite now ordering one himself.
Ms Cooper said she would change the law to ensure any adult having sex with a child aged under 16 is automatically charged with rape;
Foreign nationals convicted of child-sex offences will be barred from claiming asylum;
Lady Casey said a 2020 Home Office paper which dismissed concerns about the ethnicity of grooming gang offenders 'does not seem to be evidenced in research'.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said any asylum seekers found guilty of grooming children will have their applications rejected.
'We will do everything in our power to remove them. I do not believe the law is strong enough, that we have inherited, so we are bringing forward a change to the law so that anyone convicted of sexual offences is excluded from the asylum system and denied refugee status,' she said.
But her report highlighted data collected by police in Rotherham, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire which showed a 'disproportionate number of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds' among those suspected of grooming offences.
In Rotherham, an investigation into historical cases by the National Crime Agency found that two-thirds of suspects were of Pakistani heritage, despite them accounting for just 4 per cent of the local population.
Lady Casey said it was 'not racist to want to examine the ethnicity of offenders'. But she pointed to a culture of public bodies avoiding the issue 'for fear of appearing racist, raising community tensions or causing community cohesion problems'.
Her report said most local reviews had shown 'a palpable discomfort in any discussion of ethnicity'. And it said 'flawed data' was being 'used repeatedly to dismiss claims about 'Asian grooming gangs' as sensational, biased or untrue'.
The crossbench peer told Sky News that establishing the facts can 'take the pain out of this'.
She said: 'I think you've got sort of do-gooders that don't really want this to be found because, you know, 'Oh, God, then all the racists are going to be more racist'.
'Well, actually, people that are racist are going to use this anyway. All you're doing with the hate mongers and the racists is giving them more and more ammunition.'
Lady Casey added: 'Follow the facts and if anything is ever difficult, have a really good look at it.'
The report also accused the authorities of failing to take victims seriously, saying many girls who tried to report abuse had been 'ignored, treated like criminals and often arrested themselves'.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper issued a public apology on behalf of the state to the victims of the gangs.
She said she offered 'an unequivocal apology for the unimaginable pain and suffering that you have suffered, and for the failure of our country's institutions, over decades, to prevent that harm and keep you safe'.
Ms Cooper said she was accepting the recommendations of Lady Casey's 'damning' report in full – including ordering a public inquiry which Labour has resisted.
The report triggered angry clashes in the Commons, where Kemi Badenoch rounded on Sir Keir Starmer for smearing those pressing for a public inquiry of jumping on a 'far-Right bandwagon '.
The baroness said it was time to end the 'sanitised' language around so-called grooming gangs.'
I want to set it out in unsanitised terms,' she wrote.
'We are talking about multiple sexual assaults committed against children by multiple men on multiple occasions; beatings and gang rapes.'
The national inquiry will be time-limited and is likely to investigate offending in only a handful of local areas, despite warnings that similar activity may have taken place in 50 towns and cities across the country.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
28 minutes ago
- Times
Mother, Annabel Rook, fatally stabbed before gas explosion
A mother feared murdered inside her London house before a suspected gas explosion can be identified as a dedicated community worker. Annabel Rook, 46, was found fatally stabbed inside a house in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, northeast London, just before 5am on Tuesday. Scotland Yard detectives are investigating after the mother of two suffered catastrophic stab wounds before the gas explosion rocked the affluent neighbourhood. She died at the scene. The Metropolitan Police said a 44-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of murder. LILY SHANAGHER/PA The man was taken to hospital to be treated for non life-threatening slash wounds. Two children, aged nine and seven, were taken to hospital but they were not believed to have been inside the property at the time of the explosion. Friends paid tribute to Rook, who co-founded Mamasuze, an arts project for vulnerable people including women and children who are survivors of forced displacement and gender-based violence. 'Theatre for social change really works,' she recently wrote online. 'I have been working with marginalised and displaced people for over 20 years. 'I believe the ability to play and create should be a fundamental human right and in my work I aim to enable people to be creative and help them find their voice. 'We build a strong community through offering diverse workshops in different art forms that nurture creativity, foster social connections and rebuild confidence and identity. 'Helping women to build a more positive future for themselves and their families.' Neighbours told of their shock after the explosion tore through the two-storey terraced house with a loud bang before the sound of glass shattering was heard. Halil Youdjel said: 'There's no chance you couldn't hear it. There was suddenly a bang and screaming and shouting. Then I looked out the window and saw glass everywhere.' Another added: 'It woke me up at about 5am this morning. It sounded like something dropping. There was an impact and then rubble falling. I think I heard a faint voice too. 'It didn't sound like an explosion, more like a wall coming down.' Six fire engines and 40 firefighters were called to the two-storey terraced house shortly before 5am on Tuesday. Police and paramedics were also called to the property in the borough of Hackney. SWNS Residents described hearing a bang and the sound of glass shattering. One man, who did not wish to be named, said he heard a crash 'like somebody dropped a massive glass cabinet from a crane'. He added: 'I looked out and saw panes of glass on the floor. You could tell it wasn't a car window. Eventually, I noticed the beam on the bay window was missing and could see some mild smoke coming out of the back. There was a guy rushing around, very distraught. He went round the back.' A 76-year-old neighbour said: 'I was asleep upstairs and heard a sudden bang then I saw all the glass on the floor. I was worried. Everybody on the street came out in their pyjamas.' Another neighbour said: 'I'm pretty sure it was two bangs I heard. There was lots of glass shattering. I knew it wasn't a car crashing because it sounded like lots of glasses had been smashed.' Police and the London Fire Brigade are investigating the cause of the explosion, which was brought under control by firefighters in about 40 minutes. SWNS LILY SHANAGHER/PA A fire brigade spokesman said: 'Sadly, one woman was pronounced dead at the scene. One man was also found at the property suffering injuries.' Darren McTernan, the fire station commander, added: 'Motorists and pedestrians are advised to avoid the area for most of this morning while investigations into the cause of this incident are carried out. There are road closures in place on Stoke Newington Church Street from the junction of the A10 to Defoe Road. Residents should also note that Kersley Road is completely shut at this time.'
Telegraph
31 minutes ago
- Telegraph
I simply must have my Perelló olives: the rise of the posh shoplifter
Exhibit A: a former criminology lecturer, who self-identifies as the 'UK's poshest thief', nicking £1,000 worth of Le Creuset cookware. Exhibit B: middle-class commuters looting Marks and Spencer for snacks for the train home. Exhibit C: 'well-off, middle-aged women' being blamed for a shoplifting spree in Haslemere, Surrey. Need I go on? 'Shoplifting was always quite a grubby crime,' says Professor Emmeline Taylor, a criminologist and specialist in shoplifting and serious acquisitive crime. 'It has always been associated with the down-and-outs – you can't afford to put food on the table and clothes on your back.' Over the past five years or so, Taylor argues, that has changed. In 2016 she coined the acronym 'Swipers' to describe the emerging class of middle-class shoplifters: 'seemingly well-intentioned patrons engaging in routine shoplifting '. Since then, the swipers have got out of hand – shoplifting offences reached a record high last year, with the British Retail Forum revealing that 20 million incidents were reported in the 2023/24 financial year – costing shops £2.2 billion and adding an estimated £133 to the cost of an average household's annual shopping bill. For the first time, fingers are being pointed firmly at the middle classes, with John Lewis and Waitrose bosses pushing back at a growing category of entitled criminals whose thefts are motivated by 'greed not need'. So what's behind the problem? Self-service checkouts Because otherwise decent and law-abiding citizens find it 'easy to lie to a machine in a way you wouldn't try to deceive a person', Taylor believes the introduction of self-service checkouts is a major factor in the trend. According to a poll of 1,000 British shoppers commissioned by The Grocer magazine last year, 37 per cent of customers admitted deliberately failing to scan an item at the self-service checkouts (with men and the under-35s most likely to try conning the computerised cashiers). A third (32.5 per cent) also confessed to weighing loose items incorrectly, with 38 per cent having used the 'banana trick' to pass off an expensive item as a cheaper one. On the Mumsnet forum users admitted to 'taking advantage' of unmanned tills to scan steak as onions, or on a more minor scale, passing off Pink Lady apples as Granny Smiths. Their accounts support Taylor's belief that these thieves 'don't think of themselves as criminals; they will think they've cheated the system'. Several argued that 'big chain businesses' could afford to soak up the costs and viewed their fraud as simply paying their 'wages' for scanning their own groceries. 'After all, they are saving so much money not paying staff to man tills anymore.' But they said they would never steal from independent shopkeepers, who they saw as 'real people'. 'It's quite a fun game,' wrote user1471434829. 'I would never ever steal from a person, but tbh [to be honest] Tesco is fair game!' Another using the handle VanityDiesHard confessed to scoping out the security at various stores in advance, noting that surveillance at the local Waitrose was too good to evade, but deciding that the unmanned checkouts at M&S were fair game. 'I am angry with myself if I don't at the very least put through a carrier bag without paying,' they wrote. 'If it is busy enough there, I also put pastries through as something cheaper, ditto bread.' Not just shoplifting, then, but M&S shoplifting. Another was occasionally tempted to 'select small loose onions instead of large onions that are marginally more expensive', admitting the crime was 'mostly due to laziness and in parts rebellion – why is there an effing price difference in them anyway?' Taylor says the same psychology has led to a rise in 'wardrobing': buying expensive clothes you plan to wear once then returning them for a full refund. In some circles, she says, such behaviour is 'seen as culturally acceptable even though it's fraud'. Being able to return items online allows the fraudster to avoid an 'embarrassing' human interaction in which a sales assistant might sniff the garments and challenge a shopper by saying they smell like they've been worn. Keeping up with the Joneses While the cost of living crisis has forced the poorest in society to choose between heating and eating, Taylor says that more entitled middle-class shoplifters refuse to adjust their lifestyles to suit their more straitened circumstances. 'Those individuals who have got used to having branded goods or nicer, higher value items are suddenly finding that their household budget doesn't stretch as far as it used to,' she says. The swanky store-cupboard staples displayed on counter tops as badges of middle class pride have been hit hard by food inflation. Taylor notes the eye-watering prices of olive oil (which has risen by more than 80 per cent over the past two years) and honey (set to rise by another 30 per cent this year). Last year Tesco began putting nets and tags on bottles of olive oil because so much of the 'liquid gold' was being stolen by those who'd decided that every drizzle helps. A similar trend was spotted during the 2009 recession, with the Centre for Retail Research clocking a spike in thefts of high end meat, cheese, alcohol, perfume and face creams as middle-class shoppers turned to crime to maintain their standards of living. 'I think there's an element there of keeping up with the Joneses,' says Taylor. 'Some people don't want to be having a dinner party where they've bought everything from Aldi or Lidl rather than Waitrose because that could raise a few eyebrows.' Was this what motivated former criminology lecturer Pauline Al Said and her husband Mark Wheatcroft to pinch £1,000 worth of cast iron Le Creuset cookware (along with steaks, premium wine and boutique gin)? The pair planned their 2021 and 2022 crimes in advance, taking a device for removing security tags with them to both a branch of M&S and a garden centre. Last month – after they were fined £2,500 for walking out of the stores in broad daylight with their luxe loot piled into trolleys – Al Said proudly adopted the title of 'UK's poshest thief' on her X profile. Richard Fowler, security manager at chi-chi health food brand Planet Organic, has previously flagged an increasing issue with 'posh totty' pilferers. The chain, which has eight stores across London selling only organic produce, loses £900,000 a year to shoplifters. Talking to the BBC last year, Fowler put a percentage of these thefts down to regular clientele who 'spend a lot of money with our business. [They think] 'Today I'm a little bit short of money, so I'm entitled to steal something'.' A similar sense of entitlement has been blamed for the rise in middle-class commuters pinching snacks from convenience stores around train stations. Last month John Nussbaum, director of retail at Kingdom Security, told The Telegraph that these 'petty thieves' targeted shops largely in the early morning or early evening, with a smaller peak around lunchtime because they 'can't be bothered to queue so just leave without paying'. The thrill factor 'Some studies show that if you get a bargain – something [for] 70 per cent off – it can release endorphins, a hit of dopamine that is pleasurable,' says Taylor. 'The same can go for risky behaviours, because it creates this fight-or-flight moment physiologically. If you put yourself in that danger moment of 'I'm going to steal this', the anxiety and the adrenalin is going. Then, when you then get away with it, that's replaced with this rush of reward.' Some middle-class shoplifters find themselves addicted to the crime, and compare it with gambling addiction. On the Mumsnet forum one woman wrote that she'd turned to shoplifting 'when I was menopausal and had urges, god knows why'. Another, using the handle Ladyofthepond, confessed to a history of 'slipping things into pockets or not scanning things at self-service' that was the consequence of 'a mix of undiagnosed mental health issues, which was probably one of the many things that led my alcoholism, which in turn led to a decimation of my finances. When you are in the depths of addiction nothing else matters, it also leads to a very nihilistic attitude towards life, so shoplifting from large supermarkets was easy in that state of mind to justify, also not getting caught was a ridiculous dopamine hit.' The poster claimed to be currently 'in recovery and managing my mental health. I have to get my dopamine from ice baths and running now.' Getting away with it – and a nice accent While many of these criminals claim they'd only steal from big chain stores and not independent businesses, the evidence suggests otherwise. In January independent shopkeepers in the upmarket Surrey town of Haslemere created a WhatsApp group to help each other identify the increasing number of 'very normal well-to-do people coming in and stealing things'. Small stores selling gifts, antiques and bicycles were targeted as well as grocers and cafés. Even one of the town's charity shops found thieves pinching retro clothes to resell online on sites such as Vinted. Taylor believes that, if caught, more affluent shoplifters expect retail staff to let them off the hook more easily than those genuinely in need. 'They will absolutely play upon their appearance, their accent,' she says. 'They get pulled over in the shop; if somebody says, 'excuse me, ma'am you haven't paid for those', they know they can be like, 'Oh, gosh I can't believe it!' And the likelihood is they will just get away with it.' In some circles she says that theft is considered 'cool'. 'There is an element of showing off, one-upmanship.' concludes Taylor. 'I always think it's a bit like that YOLO hashtag. I only live once, so sod it. You know, 'what are they going to do?''
Telegraph
31 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Pictured: Mother found stabbed to death after gas explosion at house
A woman found fatally stabbed in a house after a gas explosion was the co-founder of a charity that worked with domestic violence victims. Annabel Rook, 46, a mother of two, has been named locally after she was found dead in a property in Stoke Newington, north London. Six fire engines and 40 firefighters were called to reports of an explosion early on Tuesday morning after a blast ripped through the corner property on Dumont Road. When officers gained entry to the house, police said they discovered a woman suffering from stab wounds. Despite the best efforts of paramedics, she was declared dead at the scene. Rook was the co-founder of Mamasuze, an arts-based charity run by an all-female team that works with victims of gender-based violence, refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. Rook had lived in the house since 2012 and was a popular member of the community. On one of her social media pages, she described herself as a 'teacher, educationist, sailor, traveller, theatregoer'. She studied history of art at Bristol University and graduated in 2001. A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and taken to hospital to be treated for slash wounds. Two children, aged seven and nine, were also taken to hospital as a precaution, but are not thought to have been inside the home when the explosion happened. A nearby property developer, who did not wished to be named, said he had known Rook ever since she moved into the house. He said: 'She was your typical doting Mum. 'It's incredibly sad what happened to her and the local community is shocked... I can't believe what happened.' Halil Youdjel, 29, who lives a few doors down from where the gas explosion occurred, said: 'My whole flat was shaking. 'I thought a car had slammed into a wall. 'I went outside and there was smoke and glass everywhere. Properties on the street in north London have sold for around £1.5 million. Another resident on Dumont Road said he heard a crash 'like somebody dropped a massive glass cabinet from a crane'. The man, who did not wish to be named, added: 'I looked out and saw panes of glass on the floor. You could tell it wasn't a car window. 'Eventually I noticed the beam on the bay window was missing and could see some mild smoke coming out of the back. 'People starting arriving and saying to phone the police. 'There was a guy rushing around, very distraught. He went round the back.'
