Fighting back

Samantha’s boyfriend Steven Walker and his letter to Prime Minister David Cameron

Today, in our sister paper the Oldham Chronicle, Samantha Roberts bravely waived her right to lifetime anonymity as she urged David Cameron to bring about change following the Rochdale sex attacks.

Samantha says she was “horrified” when her rapist, Shakil Chowdhury, was sentenced to only six years in prison in October 2007.

Top judges refused to increase what was deemed a “lenient” sentence at the Court of Appeal, despite a plea by the Baroness Scotland.

Chowdhury, 39 at the time of the crime, served only three years before being released on licence.

As a youngster Samantha was lured into a car on Manchester Road, Oldham in October 2006 and taken to Chowdhury’s home in Chadderton where he subjected her to a sickening ordeal,

Samantha, now 18, has decided to speak publicly and openly for the first time.

She said: “The sentence was just ridiculous, horrific and wrong. I was gutted when it was handed down.

With the help of her fiancé, Steven Walker she has drafted an emotive letter to the country’s leader.

In it, her partner begs for justice reform. He also calls on Mr Cameron to launch a Parliamentary inquiry regarding the continuing issue of child exploitation.

Samantha tells her harrowing story:

http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/69844/samantha-tells-her-harrowing-story