
Migrant worker ‘never made aware' of debit card in his name until gardaí got involved, WRC hears
Co Wicklow businessman Fahid Saleem, co-director of his family's award-winning Pakistani curry house group, Daata, told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) he had 'zero knowledge' that his wife had been given the documents belonging to the chef, her orphaned cousin Mohammad Usman Ghani.

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Irish Independent
15 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘You may as well be out on the main street' – WRC hearing abandoned as adjudicator says witness can't testify from moving train
A Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator has abandoned an employment rights hearing today after deciding it was not 'satisfactory' that a defence witness had dialled in from a moving train. The South East Technological University Student Union (SETUSU) is subject to a complaint under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 by worker Kate Rellis, which was called on for hearing earlier via videoconference, but quickly adjourned.


The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- The Irish Sun
How UK became hotbed for female paedophiles preying on kids as young as TWO… including mum who molested disabled son
BRITAIN is becoming a hotbed for female sex abusers, with experts claiming official figures are 'just the tip of a very large iceberg'. A Sun probe today reveals 20 per cent of anonymous calls to one charity's helpline over the past eight years were from callers who had been sexually abused by a female in their childhood. 7 Last week former PE teacher Bronwen James, 29, appeared at Salisbury Magistrates' Court charged with a string of sex offences against three children Credit: X 7 A Sun probe today reveals 20 per cent of anonymous calls to one charity's helpline over the past eight years were from callers who had been sexually abused by a female in their childhood Credit: Getty And the number of reported cases of female-perpetrated child sexual abuse in England and Wales rose by 84 per cent in the four years to 2019. Just last week former PE teacher Bronwen James, 29, appeared at Salisbury Magistrates' Court charged with a string of sex offences against three children - two girls aged 14 and 15, and a 16-year-old boy. She is also accused of making an indecent image of a child and having sexual communications with a girl aged between 13 to 15 - with all the offences allegedly taking place over a three-year period while James was teaching PE at Hardenhuish School in Chippenham and Bitterne Park School in Southampton. Thousands of Brits have been sexually abused as children by women but many are too terrified to come forward to police because of the 'stigma' attached to it. Exclusive data from the National Association for People Abused in Childhood [NAPAC], shows that 8,818 call logs related to females sexually abusing children out of a total of 44,281 calls between July 2016 and April 2025. Gabrielle Shaw, chief executive of the NAPAC tells The Sun: 'It shocks people to hear, but we speak to survivors every week who were sexually abused by a woman. 'Many have stayed silent for years, crushed by shame and convinced no one would believe them. 'But abuse is abuse - it doesn't matter who did it. What matters is that survivors know they're not alone, and help is out there.' Rotherham survivor Elizabeth Harper* was 15 when she was groomed by a woman - Shafina Ali - who drugged her and orchestrated her rape by multiple British-Pakistani men. Although Elizabeth wasn't raped by Shafina - who died before charges could be brought - she blames her for the horrific sexual abuse she endured during her teen years. Moment 'Teacher of the Year' weeps as she pleads guilty to abusing pupils She tells The Sun: 'There's this stereotype of women being maternal and loving so you don't expect them to offend, but I know just how evil they can be. 'Shafina was a monster who drugged me and facilitated my abuse. I wouldn't have suffered that if it hadn't been for her. 'I still have flashbacks of her, leaning over my bed. Every time I see a woman who looks like her, it petrifies me. I still have flashbacks of her, leaning over my bed. Every time I see a woman who looks like her, it petrifies me Elizabeth Harper 'I hope this report raises awareness of just how many women might be involved in child sexual abuse and gets people talking. 'We also need more regular criminal profiling of female perpetrators involved in horrific sexual child abuse. 'Police seem to only focus on the really high profile cases - the 'As a mum now, I will never understand how any woman can inflict pain on someone else's child - or their own.' Disturbing reality 7 Nicola Murray was jailed for three years in June for physically and sexually assaulting four children 7 Bethany Hill's case, which saw her sexually abuse a child with her partner Zabien Burns, was dubbed one of the UK's 'most horrific and despicable' Credit: Humberside Police The findings follow a string of high profile cases involving female child sex offenders in recent months. In June, domestic abuse activist Murray and made another youngster view an explicit image she had taken of a man she was dating. In March, Nichole Pratt, 25, from Leominster, And in January, Bethany Hill, 26, from Hull, East Yorks., was The Lucy Faithfull Foundation (LFF), a child protection charity dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation, says ten per cent of callers to its Stop It Now helpline who report having sexual thoughts about children but have not yet harmed a child, are women. Dr Alexandra Bailey works at the charity with women who have committed sexual offences against children, or might pose a risk to them. She tells The Sun: 'I think in society, we generally tend to think of women as being the nurturers and the carers, and certainly not individuals that would be seen to be sexually aggressive in any way. 'The problem with that is we can then deny that women are able to cause sexual harm, which we know they are.' Britain's worst female child sex offenders VANESSA GEORGE Nursery worker Vanessa George was dubbed Britain's worst female paedophile after sexually assaulting up to 64 children as young as two at a nursery in Plymouth, Devon. George was jailed for a minimum of seven years in 2009 after she filmed her abuse using her mobile phone and swapped indecent images with other paedophiles over the internet. The former classroom assistant was a trusted carer, a wife of 20 years and a mother of two teenage daughters at the time. Female paedophile Angela Allen was also convicted of child sex abuse after police investigating George's case found the women had exchanged sick images online with IT worker Colin Blanchard. CHRISTINE CALLAGHAN Christine Callaghan, then 33, from Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex was jailed for six years in December 2019 after she admitted four counts of child sexual abuse charges. A court heard she was paid £2,285 by another paedophile to livestream footage of herself sexually abusing a young girl over three years. The National Crime Agency caught Callaghan and paedophile Dean Petley, of Leamington Spa, Warks, who was jailed for eight years in November 2019, after investigating beast Jodie Little, 30. Little, from Huddersfield, was jailed for 12 years and four months in August 2019 for sexually abusing children for money online. SOPHIE ELMS In 2018 teenage nursery worker Sophie Elms, from Wiltshire, became Britain's youngest named female convicted paedophile after admitting 16 charges against young children. These included penetration, sexual assault, and taking and distributing indecent photographs of children aged two and three. She was 17 when she committed the offences. ROSANA AWAN In 2024, cheerleading coach at Leicester Crown Court for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl over several years, beginning in 2013. Other shocking cases involve female family members who are often organised and ritualistic. Gabrielle says: 'This is a hidden and often misunderstood form of abuse that typically happens within families or close-knit communities. 'These survivors are 4.6 times more likely to name their grandmother as a perpetrator, and three times more likely to name an aunt. 'It's hard for most people to imagine - but that's precisely why it's been hidden for so long. 'These aren't one-off cases. They reflect a disturbing reality: women, including those in trusted care-giving roles, can and do commit abuse, sometimes as part of a wider, inter-generational pattern. 'Until we face up to that, survivors will continue to suffer in silence.' As a mum now, I will never understand how any woman can inflict pain on someone else's child - or their own Elizabeth Harper Figures from a Freedom of Information request carried out by BBC Radio 4's File On 4 show in 2021 revealed there were over 10,400 reports of female child sex abuse from 2015 to 2019 - equivalent to an average of 40 a week. Between 2015 and 2019, the numbers of reported cases of female-perpetrated child sexual abuse to police in England and Wales rose from 1,249 to 2,297 - an increase of 84 per cent. The most recent Home Office statistics, covering March 2023 to March 2024, show a 27 per cent increase in females arrested for sexual offences (up by 237 to 1,124). How many of those involved child sexual abuse is not published. Among individuals reporting their experiences of child sex abuse to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales (IICSA), 16 per cent of those abused in residential care, and six per cent of those abused in other institutional contexts such as schools, sports and religious settings, said female perpetrators were involved, although in some cases these may have been other children. 'In denial' 7 Teacher Rebecca Joynes sexually abused two schoolboys and fell pregnant by one of them Credit: Steve Allen One such case was that of Joynes, 30, from The father of her child talked of the hold Joynes had over him in a powerful victim impact statement read out at court. He said: 'I struggled to come to terms with my abuse. I was completely in denial. 'I subsequently held back and did not fully open up to people… Rebecca was in my head that much. I would argue until I was blue in the face protecting her.' He added: 'It tore my family apart. They struggled to come to terms with the fact they sent me to school, where they believed it to be a safe environment, and this happened as a result.' It tore my family apart. They struggled to come to terms with the fact they sent me to school, where they believed it to be a safe environment, and this happened as a result Child sexual abuse survivor Overall, female child sex abuse rates are still far lower than they are for male child sex abusers. According to the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA Centre) males account for 92 per cent of the abusers. The most recent data from the UK Office for National Statistics shows 3.8 per cent of child sexual abuse survivors say their perpetrator was a female. A further 4.5 per cent reported their abuse was by both a male and female. 'Tip of a very large iceberg' But forensic psychologist Dr Joe Sullivan warns: 'The official statistics are like the tip of a very large iceberg.' While based in the Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU) of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, Dr Sullivan assisted police in many of the UK's highest profile investigations into the disappearance, sexual abuse, exploitation and sexual murder of children. He tells The Sun: 'The problem with relying on official crime statistics is that they only relate to people who were accused, investigated, prosecuted and convicted. 'Victim/survivor studies suggest that approximately 95 per cent never report child sexual abuse. 'Of the five per cent who do, the vast majority will never see their allegation result in a conviction. 'Hence, most female perpetrators of child sexual abuse never come to the attention of the police and therefore don't get classified as sex offenders.' Victim/survivor studies suggest that approximately 95 per cent never report child sexual abuse... Hence, most female perpetrators of child sexual abuse never come to the attention of the police and therefore don't get classified as sex offenders Dr Joe Sullivan The latest They reveal 6,825 offenders were found guilty of child abuse in England and Wales in 2024. Of them, there were just 67 convictions of female abusers. NAPAC says the stigma attached to being abused is a contributing reason many people won't reach out for help. Gabrielle adds: 'Survivors often carry deep shame when the perpetrator was a woman. 'This stigma affects both male and female survivors equally and is fuelled by harmful myths like 'boys enjoy it' or women don't do that sort of thing'. These ideas silence people, sometimes for decades.' 'Rationalise' sick behaviour Like men, female abusers will often justify, minimise or rationalise their behaviour. Dr Sullivan, who has interviewed hundreds of perpetrators of child sexual abuse over her 39-year career says: 'One mother described how she sexually abused her severely physically and mentally disabled son to allow him to experience sex with another person, because his condition deprived him of that opportunity. 'A foster carer that I worked with described a grooming process with two boys in her care which involved showing them adult movies and then offering to let the boys do what they had seen in the movies to her. One mother described how she sexually abused her severely physically and mentally disabled son to allow him to experience sex with another person Dr Joe Sullivan 'Another mother described how she began sexually abusing her daughter as an infant to normalise the abuse and manipulate her daughter into believing there was nothing unusual with what was happening.' The A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We are determined to bring the perpetrators of child sexual abuse to justice, regardless of whether they are male or female. 'We are strengthening law enforcement's response, both to tackle the historic cases that were not properly investigated, and also to stamp out the abuse still taking place today.' If you've been affected by anything in this article, NAPAC offers free and confidential support to all adult survivors of any kind of childhood abuse. Call 0808 801 0331 or visit *Elizabeth Harper is not her real name. 7 Gabrielle Shaw, chief executive of the NAPAC, tells The Sun they speak to survivors every week who were sexually abused by a woman Credit: Supplied 7 The Home Secretary announced a raft of new measures and an investment of £10million to tackle child sexual abuse earlier this year Credit: Getty


Irish Times
4 days ago
- Irish Times
Garda raid on home of award-winning curry restaurant owner finds bank card in worker's name
A predawn Garda raid on the home of a leading restaurateur last December found personal documents belonging to a migrant chef who has said he was 'never made aware' of a debit card in his name, a tribunal has heard. Fahid Saleem, codirector of his family's award-winning Pakistani curry house group, Daata, told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) he had 'zero knowledge' that his wife had been given the documents belonging to the chef, her orphaned cousin Mohammad Usman Ghani. The WRC noted sworn evidence from Mr Ghani, a commis chef brought to Ireland on a work permit in 2023, that he knew nothing of a debit card for a bank account into which his wages were being paid, and only got access 'thanks to the guards'. The disclosures were made during a WRC hearing into a series of workplace rights claims by Mr Ghani against his former employer Mirha & Aliha Ltd, trading as Daata Restaurant, which have now been 'amicably resolved'. READ MORE Mr Ghani, who was represented by Sylwia Nowakoska and Pretty Ndawo of the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, claimed his wages were 'withheld' while he was working at its takeaway and restaurant in Bray, Co Wicklow for 'about 70 hours a week'. He said company director Fahid Saleem 'was putting pressure on me all the time'. 'There were dishes I would make – he would say: 'Make it again, it's not okay', time and time, again and again,' he said. Mr Saleem would remind him 'again and again; your work permit is on us, your accommodation is from us', he said. In his evidence to the tribunal, Mr Saleem said: 'I treat all my staff… as part of my family, and I would never threaten, harass or bully or annoy any of them.' Mr Saleem said he went to significant expense to bring Mr Ghani, his wife's cousin, into Ireland in July 2023. Mr Ghani was taken in by his wife's family after the deaths of his parents when he was 'very young', the witness said. He said he 'would not be able to get the orders out' in the takeaway if he was forcing Mr Ghani to cook meals 'again and again'. He denied threatening to deport Mr Ghani or 'put him out of the country' and said that would be 'very stupid'. Mr Ghani said he decided on August 1st last year that he was not coming to work the next day after being told he faced being 'deported back to Pakistan' after making a 'small mistake' and being reprimanded for 'not working faster'. Mr Saleem said there was no 'altercation' that day and that he had simply asked Mr Ghani: 'Why are the orders not going out?'. He learned the following day that Mr Ghani was absent from the staff house owned by his younger sister, his codirector Aliha Saleem, he said. Bank account Mr Saleem said that before a bank account was opened in Mr Ghani's name, he gave the worker cash 'for the first couple of months' before bank transfers commenced. Adjudication officer Breiffni O'Neill said there had been 'no suggestion' during Mr Ghani's direct evidence that the worker 'gave any instruction to transfer money to that account' and 'could not explain' how it got there. 'He said he was never made aware at any stage in the immediate aftermath of the account being opened of any card. The first he was made aware was when he got access to the bank account, thanks to the guards,' Mr O'Neill said. Susan Jones, instructed by Jones Magee Solicitors, for the company, submitted that this had to be considered a 'credibility issue' for the worker and said she had witnesses who could testify to Mr Ghani 'operating his bank card'. Mr Saleem said he was not aware of any allegation of money being 'withheld' from Mr Ghani until after December 6th last, when there was a 6.30am 'Garda raid' on his house in Greystones. Mr Saleem said his wife explained to him afterwards that Mr Ghani left 'all his documents' at the company house. These ended up at Mr Saleem's home after Mr Ghani's ex-colleagues tried and failed to return them – and left them with his wife 'for safe keeping', he said. 'I had zero knowledge of this arrangement,' he said. On the working time claims, Mr Saleem said Mr Ghani 'would work six days a week' but had time to take breaks and had access to the restaurant premises before work to cook his own meals. Mr Ghani also claimed for pay in lieu for working public holidays, including Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day in 2023. Mr Saleem's evidence was: 'We don't open on 25th, 26th, 27th December.' Mr O'Neill put it to him that he had signed off on a time sheet that recorded Mr Ghani working those days. 'It might have been an oversight on my part,' Mr Saleem said. Mr O'Neill then turned to the respondent's barrister and said: 'Ms Jones, you might need to reflect on your position overnight and talk to your counterpart in the morning.' Mr O'Neill did not resume the public hearings when the parties met on Thursday at Lansdowne House in Dublin. Migrant Rights Council of Ireland said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that matters had been 'amicably resolved' following talks. The respondent's legal team declined to comment. The business, founded in Bray in 1999 by Mr Saleem's parents, has four restaurants in north Co Wicklow and south Co Dublin, and is preparing to open its fifth in Sandymount at the end of the month.