Halifax child sex abuse ring
{{Short description|Child abuse ring in West Yorkshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2018}}
The Halifax child sex abuse ring was a group of men who committed serious sexual offences against under-aged girls in the English town of Halifax and city of Bradford, West Yorkshire. It was the largest child sexual exploitation investigation in the United Kingdom. In 2016, the perpetrators were found guilty of rape and other crimes in several separate trials at Leeds Crown Court. In total, as many as a hundred men may have been involved in child abuse. Twenty-five suspects were charged by West Yorkshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service and 18 of these were found guilty, totalling over 175 years of prison time.{{cite news|title=Last two men sentenced in Calderdale's biggest child sex abuse case|url=https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/last-two-men-sentenced-in-calderdale-s-biggest-child-sex-abuse-case-1-7982099|accessdate=13 February 2018|work=Halifax Courier|date=24 June 2016|quote=Sentences imposed on the sexual offenders now total more than 175 years and an 18th man convicted only of supplying the girl with cannabis was also jailed for 10 months.|archive-date=15 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615004340/https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/last-two-men-sentenced-in-calderdale-s-biggest-child-sex-abuse-case-1-7982099|url-status=dead}} A further nine men were convicted in February 2019 for grooming two underage girls in Bradford and sentenced to over 130 years in prison.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-47388060|title=Nine jailed for abusing care home girls|date=2019-02-27|access-date=2019-02-27|language=en-GB}} The majority of those charged and later convicted come from the town's Asian community.{{Cite news|url=https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/crime/child-sexual-abuse-ring-in-halifax-25-men-charged-police-reaction-1-7096362|title=Child sexual abuse ring in Halifax: 25 men charged - police reaction|accessdate=19 October 2018|archive-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407095139/https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/crime/child-sexual-abuse-ring-in-halifax-25-men-charged-police-reaction-1-7096362|url-status=dead}}
In December 2017, Quilliam released a report entitled "Group Based Child Sexual Exploitation – Dissecting Grooming Gangs", concluding that 84% of offenders were of South Asian heritage.{{cite news|last=Barnes|first=Tom|date=10 December 2017|title=British-Pakistani researchers say grooming gangs are 84% white |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/quilliam-grooming-gangs-report-asian-abuse-rotherham-rochdale-newcastle-a8101941.html|accessdate=16 December 2020|website=The Independent}} This review was criticised for its poor methodology by Ella Cockbain and Waqas Tufail, in their paper "Failing victims, fuelling hate: challenging the harms of the 'Muslim grooming gangs' narrative" which was published in January 2020.{{Cite journal|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0306396819895727|doi = 10.1177/0306396819895727|title = Failing victims, fuelling hate: Challenging the harms of the 'Muslim grooming gangs' narrative|year = 2020|last1 = Cockbain|first1 = Ella|last2 = Tufail|first2 = Waqas|journal = Race & Class|volume = 61|issue = 3|pages = 3–32|s2cid = 214197388}} In December that year, a further report by the Home Office was released, showing that the majority of CSE gangs were, in fact, composed of white men. However it was also found that some studies suggest an over-representation of Black and Asian offenders relative to the demographics of national populations. The Home Office report also conceded that ethnicity data on grooming gangs was unreliable.{{cite report|title=Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation Characteristics of Offending|website=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/944206/Group-based_CSE_Paper.pdf |page=42|date=December 2020|access-date=14 March 2022}} In cases like the Halifax child sex abuse ring or other high-profile ones like the Huddersfield grooming gang or the Rochdale child sex abuse ring all or almost all of those convicted were British Asian men.
Writing in The Guardian, Cockbain and Tufail wrote of the report that "The two-year study by the Home Office makes very clear that there are no grounds for asserting that Muslim or Pakistani-heritage men are disproportionately engaged in such crimes, and, citing our research, it confirmed the unreliability of the Quilliam claim".{{cite news |last1=Cockbain |first1=Ella |last2=Tufail |first2=Waqas |title=A new Home Office report admits grooming gangs are not a 'Muslim problem' {{!}} Ella Cockbain and Waqas Tufail |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/19/home-office-report-grooming-gangs-not-muslim |access-date=14 March 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=19 December 2020}}
Crimes
The principal victim was identified as "Jeanette" in government reports.{{cite news|last1=Nick Lavigueur|title=Chances missed to protect vulnerable girl from evil sex gang in Halifax|url=https://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/chances-missed-protect-vulnerable-girl-12224220|accessdate=7 February 2018|work=The Huddersfield Daily Examiner|date=24 November 2016|quote=The youngster, known as Jeanette in the report, was drugged and raped by the gang from the age of 12 to 15.}} The prosecution said that the girl, who was 13 when the abuse first began, came from a troubled family background and was “lonely [and] needy”. The gang exploited her desire for friendship and love, deliberately giving her drink and drugs to turn her into an addict and make her more easily controlled. In interviews with the police, she described being raped and abused in many different locations, including private homes in Halifax, Bradford and Manchester, and hotels in Bradford, Leeds and London. The abuse took place between 2006 and 2011.{{cite web|title=West Yorkshire Police charge 25 men with child sex offences|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-31141167|publisher=BBC|accessdate=7 February 2018|date=4 February 2015|quote=The offences are alleged to have been committed between 2006 and 2011 and largely relate to one girl who was under 16 at the time.}}
"Jeanette" believed that she was abused by at least a hundred men, often more than once a day and once by nineteen men over a short time. She was infected with gonorrhoea as result of the abuse and suffered permanent psychological harm. Although she knew many of the men only by their nicknames, the police were able to identify them using CCTV footage from the hotels in which she was abused and by analysing male DNA in stains found on her clothing.
Police said it was the largest child sexual exploitation investigation in the country – "bigger than high profile cases in Rochdale and Rotherham."{{cite news|title=Child sexual abuse ring in Halifax: 25 men charged - police reaction|url=https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/crime/child-sexual-abuse-ring-in-halifax-25-men-charged-police-reaction-1-7096362#ixzz42ztRnuvm|accessdate=13 February 2018|work=Halifax Courier|date=9 February 2015|quote=police say is the largest child sexual exploitation (CSE) investigation in the country - bigger than high profile cases in Rochdale and Rotherham|archive-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407095139/https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/crime/child-sexual-abuse-ring-in-halifax-25-men-charged-police-reaction-1-7096362#ixzz42ztRnuvm|url-status=dead}}
=Calderdale board report and West Yorkshire police apology=
The November 2016 board report found that three agencies failed to protect "Jeanette". West Yorkshire police apologized, saying "We would firstly like to apologise to the victim for the failings of West Yorkshire police."{{cite news|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/crime/how-officials-failed-halifax-schoolgirl-groomed-by-17-men-1-8260069|title=How officials failed Halifax schoolgirl groomed by 17 men|work=The Yorkshire Post|accessdate=13 February 2018}}
Legal
The gang members were arrested in May 2013.{{cite news|title=Child sexual abuse ring in Halifax: 25 men charged - police reaction|url=https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/crime/child-sexual-abuse-ring-in-halifax-25-men-charged-police-reaction-1-7096362|accessdate=7 February 2018|work=Halifax Courier|date=9 February 2015|quote=A year-long investigation eventually saw them arrested in May 2013 and they were all formally charged at Halifax Police Station on Wednesday.|archive-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407095139/https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/crime/child-sexual-abuse-ring-in-halifax-25-men-charged-police-reaction-1-7096362|url-status=dead}} There were three separate trials in the first half of 2016. Thirteen men received prison sentences adding up to over 150 years.{{cite news|last1=Neil Atkinson|title=Grooming gang sentenced to more than 150 years in jail 'systematic sex abuse' in Halifax and Bradford|url=https://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/grooming-gang-sentenced-more-150-11484761|accessdate=7 February 2018|work=The Huddersfield Daily Examiner|date=16 June 2016|quote=Three separate trials have taken place between February and June 2016. The 13 defendants sentenced to date have amassed 156 years and six months imprisonment between them, with sentencing ranging from five to 25 years.}}
=Judge's comments=
Judge Geoffrey Marson QC harshly criticised the guilty men for committing gross abuse on obviously vulnerable girls. He condemned them for not showing “the slightest remorse” for their behaviour and for the way in which they had inflicted pain, humiliation and degradation on a victim whom they had deliberately incapacitated with drink and drugs. He said that they had inflicted permanent psychological harm on the girl, acting without concern or feelings for anything but their own sexual gratification.
=2018 arrests for same case=
In early January 2018, 20 additional men were arrested as a result of investigations into the same case.{{cite news|last1=Lizzie Dearden|title=Police arrest 20 men for alleged involvement in Calderdale grooming gang|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/calderdale-grooming-gang-police-arrest-20-men-involvement-child-sexual-abuse-trafficking-girls-add-a8155541.html|accessdate=7 February 2018|work=The Independent|date=12 January 2018|quote=This week’s arrests were part of the same investigation, which centres on allegations made a woman who was the victim of sexual abuse as a child in the Halifax area between 2006 and 2009.}}
Verdicts and sentences
Those found guilty in June 2016 and their sentences were as follows:
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||
| Forename | Surname | Age | Of | Charges |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hedar | Ali | 36 | Bradford | 25 years for rape and trafficking for sexual exploitation |
| Haider | Ali | 41 | Halifax | 20 years for sexual activity with a child and causing a person to engage in sexual activity |
| Khalid | Zaman | 38 | Bradford | 17 and a half years for rape and supplying class B drugs |
| Mohammed | Ramzan | 35 | Bradford | 15 years for rape |
| Haaris | Ahmed | 32 | Halifax | 12 and a half years for sexual activity with a child and supplying class B drugs |
| Tahir | Mahmood | 43 | Halifax | 11 years for sexual activity with a child and sexual assault |
| Taukeer | Butt | 31 | Halifax | 10 years for sexual activity with a child |
| Amaar Ali | Ditta | 27 | Halifax | 9 years for sexual activity with a child |
| Azeem | Subhani | 25 | Halifax | 9 years for sexual activity with a child |
| Talib | Saddiq | 31 | Halifax | 8 years for sexual activity with a child |
| Sikander | Malik | 31 | Halifax | 7 years for sexual activity with a child |
| Mohammed Ali | Ahmed | 43 | Halifax | 6 and a half years for sexual activity with a child |
| Aftab | Hussain | 37 | Halifax | 6 years for sexual activity with a child |
| Mansoor | Akhtar | 25 | Huddersfield | 6 years for sexual activity with a child and supplying Class B drugs |
| Sikander | Ishaq | 31 | Halifax | 6 years for sexual activity with a child |
| Furqaan | Ghafar | 31 | Derby | 5 years and three months after he admitted one charge of sexual activity with a child. |
| Aesan | Pervez | 27 | Halifax | 4 years. Convicted by a jury after a trial at Leeds Crown Court on one charge of sexual assault on the girl{{cite news|url=https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/last-two-men-sentenced-in-calderdale-s-biggest-child-sex-abuse-case-1-7982099|title=Last two men sentenced in Calderdale's biggest child sex abuse case|work=The Halifax Courier|accessdate=13 February 2018|archive-date=15 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615004340/https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/last-two-men-sentenced-in-calderdale-s-biggest-child-sex-abuse-case-1-7982099|url-status=dead}} |
An 18th member of the ring was jailed for 10 months for supplying class B drugs
Those found guilty in February 2019 and their sentences were as follows:
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||
| Forename | Surname | Age | Of | Charges |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saeed | Akhtar | 55 | Bradford | 20 years for two counts of inciting child prostitution and rape |
| Basharat | Khaliq | 38 | Bradford | 20 years for five counts of rape and assault by penetration |
| Parvaze | Ahmed | 36 | Bradford | 17 years for three counts of rape |
| Naveed | Akhtar | 43 | Bradford | 17 years for two counts of rape |
| Kieran | Harris | 28 | Dewsbury | 17 years for two counts of rape |
| Mohammed | Usman | 31 | Bradford | 17 years for two counts of rape |
| Izar | Hussain | 32 | Bradford | 16 years for rape and attempted rape |
| Faheem | Iqbal | 27 | No fixed abode | 7 years for aiding and abetting rape |
| Zeeshan | Ali | 32 | Bradford | 18 months for sexual assault |
See also
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-36559092 | title = Calderdale gang jailed for grooming and abusing girls | work = BBC News | date=17 June 2016 | accessdate=7 July 2016}}
{{cite news | url = http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/crime/how-100-men-were-able-to-prey-on-one-vulnerable-halifax-schoolgirl-for-two-years-1-7969702 | title = How 100 men were able to prey on one vulnerable Halifax schoolgirl for two years | work = The Yorkshire Post | date=17 June 2016 | accessdate=7 July 2016}}
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{{Child sexual abuse in the UK}}
Category:2000s crimes in the United Kingdom
Category:2000s in West Yorkshire
Category:2010s crimes in the United Kingdom
Category:2010s in West Yorkshire
Category:British people convicted of child sexual abuse
Category:Child prostitution in the United Kingdom
Category:Crime in West Yorkshire