Anger over "offensive" Times 'sex grooming town' headline after horrific murder of Rochdale Qari
Date published: 21 February 2016
"Offensive" Times 'sex grooming town' headline
The Times has caused an avalanche of anger by headlining an article about the horrific murder of Rochdale Qari, Julal Uddin, as 'Imam beaten to death in sex grooming town'.
In an open letter to the Editor of The Times, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Ian Hopkins, called the headline "offensive to the thousands of peaceful law abiding Muslims and non-Muslims living in Rochdale who are shocked by this murder" and said "its irrelevance to this case has the potential to cause community tension".
Chief Constable Hopkins concluded his letter by asking The Times for an "immediate apology".
Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk called the headline "appalling" and "disgraceful". He said: "This is an awful headline, I hope The Times can apologise to Mr Uddin's family and, indeed, the people of Rochdale."
The Times did subsequently change the headline to 'Imam beaten to death in Rochdale', however, the content of the article conflating Mr Uddin’s death and past grooming in Rochdale remains.
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