“We failed you” – GMP’s chief constable apologises for the “serious failings” highlighted in Rochdale CSE report
Date published: 16 January 2024
GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson speaking at the press conference to release the findings of the review into Operation Span and the investigation of non-recent child sexual exploitation in Rochdale
The chief constable of Greater Manchester Police has admitted the police failings highlighted in the publication of a review into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rochdale between 2004 and 2012.
Published on Monday (15 January), “The review into Operation Span and the investigation of non-recent child sexual exploitation in Rochdale” found that both the council and Greater Manchester Police “seriously failed” the children who were groomed and sexually exploited in the borough from 2004 to 2013.
The Rochdale review focused on the sexual exploitation of children in Rochdale between 2004 and 2012, specifically considering the allegations set out by both sexual health worker Sara Rowbotham and former GMP detective constable Maggie Oliver, who blew the whistle on the 2012 grooming scandal.
The report details how the emerging threat of child sexual exploitation was not addressed between 2004 and 2007, noting the multiple failed investigations by police and lack of response from Rochdale Borough Council to the many girls, who were mainly white and of a poor background, who all identified as potential victims of abuse by Asian men.
After considering the cases of 111 children in the Rochdale borough, the authors found there “was a significant probability that 74 of these children were being sexually exploited at that time, and in 48 of those cases, there were serious failures to protect the child.”
The review adds concerns about CSE had been “consistently raised” with both the police and children’s social care at the highest level by Sara Rowbotham and her colleagues.
Chief Constable Stephen Watson – who took up the role in May 2021 – said the failure was “a matter of profound regret” before apologising to the victims that Greater Manchester Police let down.
He said: “One of the primary responsibilities of the police is to protect the vulnerable from cruel and the predatory and, in this regard, we failed you.
“In respect of GMP’s failures specifically, the report highlights clear evidence to suggest that CSE in Rochdale was both widespread and known about amongst those with the responsibility to act. Exploited children were poorly safeguarded and, on occasion, not safeguarded at all.
“Offenders were neither effectively disrupted nor properly brought to justice. Senior GMP officers failed to address what was clearly a strategic issue with a fitting and sustainable strategic solution.
“GMP failed to heed the voices of those who were speaking upon behalf of victims and who were pointing to the inadequacy of the organisational response.”
One of the conclusions reached by the report agreed with previous allegations made by Maggie and Sara that, during Operation Span, “many children’s testimonies were ignored, and their abusers were not brought to justice.”
CC Watson continued: “I also recognise the plight of Maggie Oliver and Sara Rowbotham - who advocated for victims and survivors when no one else did, and ultimately enabled the review and publication of this report.
“Whilst the report rightfully vindicates Maggie and Sara and reinforces the importance of the changes we have already made – many with Maggie’s support, it remains to be said that the current prevention of and response to child sexual exploitation in Rochdale and across Greater Manchester has been overhauled since the early 2000s to ensure that victims and survivors are cared for and receive the expected level of service.
“With Rochdale’s Complex Safeguarding Hub and the force’s Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team now boasting 120 police officers and staff, following a multi-million-pound investment, we have data to assure ourselves and communities that we have and are making progress.
“Since nine men were convicted following Operation Span in 2012, there have been a further 135 arrests, 432 charges, and 32 convictions which has resulted in 355’ years imprisonment for offenders who might have thought that they had escaped justice.
“This data should also warn perpetrators of child sexual exploitation that, regardless of the passage of time, GMP will pursue you until you face justice.
“The partnership will, of course, now spend time digesting the contents of the report to ensure the partnership has not missed any opportunities to improve.”
When asked what additional assurances he could give the people of Rochdale that this would never happen again, CC Watson said: “The only thing that we can do is make sure all that we’re doing together is as closely reflective of the very best practices that are described for us nationally and beyond, and we are certainly doing that in Rochdale.”
He cited the “really positive responses” from the previous two Ofsted inspections for the Sunrise Team and the multi-agency safeguarding team in Rochdale [the Complex Early Help Safeguarding Hub – made up of the police, children’s social care, Sunrise, early help and health] which confirmed that ‘children at risk receive an effective response from the dedicated Sunrise team’.
CC Watson continued: “We are very significant contributors to that. Over and above that which happens locally, we now have 107 dedicated people in our corporate CSE MIT team who support what is currently going on in Rochdale.”
He said there were “34 people today – charged – who will be standing trial this year and next,” adding: “Op Lytton continues, and in addition we have seven live CSE investigations ongoing.
“My message to the people in Rochdale is ‘we know we messed up’. We know that what is happening today is different; we are absolutely wedded to making sure we get the very best.”
“For anybody in Rochdale,” CC Watson said, “who was an offender, who thinks that they’ve got away with this, your day of reckoning is coming. We’re keeping very close to all victims in this respect to try and bring that amount.”
He added: “In no way am I going to stand here and complacently say there are no lessons to be learned, nor is there anything differently we could do. What I am asserting is absolutely, categorically, is that the world of then and the world of today is demonstrably, tangibly, different.
“What happened then would not happen today. That does not mean that there is not scope to improve; it does not mean that we don’t get it right. But what I am equally confident of is when we don’t get it right, we have the ability to sweep up within days and that’s why it so important that we work with people like Maggie and so many others.
“Ultimately, this goes back to the point that Maggie was making, that her people and my people sit down, month in, month out, and they talk through every single referral that goes into her agency. It isn’t fair to say there’s a whole bunch of stuff out there that we don’t know about. If we don’t know about it, then it’s our duty to find out about it – that’s why we engage with partner agencies to make sure that we are absolutely all over the detail and responding appropriately because we’re all in the same place here.
“None of us could countenance this sort of thing ever happening again in Greater Manchester, or anywhere else for that matter.”
CC Watson described meeting some of the key victims – to hear their stories and issue a personal apology – as “humbling” and “very straightening.”
He said: “It was a pleasure to meet with them, and sobering to understand that we really let these people down in a way that is so fundamental to the core of what we are about. It was a mix of emotions, but out of that comes a real determination to get this right and do it properly going forward.”
Mr Watson also expressed his disapproval that some people involved in the decisions made back then did not contribute towards the inquiry, adding: “I don’t approve of the fact that people have not spoken when asked.
“I think it important that – I know there’s a distinction – between a statutory inquiry where people can be compelled and a non-statutory inquiry where people cannot be compelled, as a police officer, you are paid for by the public to do your duty in the public’s name and you should, in good faith, be willing to explain what you did and did not do.
“It is not something that I personally would encourage in anybody. If I was ever asked – as I am being asked today – to be accountable, my first instinct is to be accountable because that is what duty demands and I think everybody should adopt the same approach.”
The report’s authors also said they were “struck by the lack of intervention by both the police and children’s social care when it was known that older adult males were having sexual relations with children who were said to be ‘consenting’.”
The review has also established that, by October 2012, the multi-agency CSE strategy group chaired by GMP was aware of approximately 127 potential victims referred by the Crisis Intervention Team to children’s social care that had not been acted on over the years.
This figure later grew to 260 potential victims. This information was “clear to all the partners three months before the publication of the serious case review overview reports in December 2013.”
It also said as many as 96 men were still deemed to be a potential risk to children in 2013.
When asked if there would be any consequences for the officers who were at GMP at the time of the failings, CC Watson said GMP’s professional standards department were going through the report to see if there were any grounds to re-refer, make fresh referrals or revisit previous decisions.
He confirmed that 13 officers had previously been investigated in an independent management review of Operation Span and referred to the IPCC [the Independent Police Complaints Commission, forerunner to the IOPC] but “no criminal culpability had been found in the case of any officer.”
He said the IPCC found “no case to answer” in around six cases, whilst seven received various elements of managerial advice, both formal and informal, and one officer, who had a case to answer, retired and “fell out of the purview of the police misconduct arrangement.”
CC Watson concluded: “It isn’t ultimately our decision, hence we put these decisions to the IOPC.
“They make the determination as to culpability.”
Since early 2012, Greater Manchester Police and Rochdale Council have overhauled the way they prevent and respond to child sexual exploitation to ensure that victims and survivors are cared for and receive the expected level of service.
Whilst criminal justice outcomes are one aim of investigations and operations, through the Complex Safeguarding Hub also known as The Sunrise Team which co-locates police with local authority and health service colleagues, the partnership has refined the focus on the safeguarding of vulnerable young people and the prevention and reduction of exploitation.
The team also run proactive operations to educate communities, identify potential victims and offenders, and close gateways to child sexual exploitation.
For example, under Operation Cobalt, the team visits hotels and taxi companies to educate staff on the signs of child sexual exploitation and how to report concerns to GMP or Rochdale Council.
Under Operation Vigilant, the team responds to intelligence gathered from key sources within communities to identify potential victims and offenders to enable early intervention. In 2023, the team conducted seven days of action resulting in the seizure of 4,733 illegal vapes – which intelligence suggests are sometimes being used to groom vulnerable young people.
When crimes are identified or reported, the partnership designs and implements bespoke care plans to ensure victims and survivors are offered specialist support from the outset.
Engagement is led by trained staff, who have experience of building rapport with people abused in childhood.
At the right time, suspect-focused and evidence-based investigations – like operations Doublet, Routh, and Lytton – then progress, with the support of the force’s Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team, to ensure they are reflective of the best practice recognised by The Hydrant Programme and National Association of People Abused in Childhood.
Significant progress has also been made through Operation Lytton, which is investigating non-recent multi-victim multi-offender child sexual exploitation in Rochdale between 2000 and 2008. So far, 37 suspects have been charged with 303 offences.
In 2023, five were convicted of 22 offences and sentenced to a combined total of 71.5 years imprisonment.
An additional 29 suspects are scheduled to go on trial in 2025.
Under the three operations, 30 men have been convicted, and most received lengthy prison sentences. This is a significant number of successful convictions and the report acknowledges the considerable amount of effort that was dedicated to achieving these successful convictions.
However, the review team has noted that these trials only included 13 children in total, and just six of these were previously known to the Crisis Intervention Team and are included in the 74 children believed by the review team to have been sexually exploited, a very small proportion of the children who were known to be sexually exploited in Rochdale over the period the review has covered.
The report, the result of a six-year-investigation, is part three of the overall review into the effectiveness of multi-agency responses to CSE commissioned by Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, following the airing of the 2017 BBC documentary, The Betrayed Girls, about child sexual exploitation in the region.
The review – split into four parts – is being led by child protection specialist, Malcolm Newsam CBE and former senior police officer, Gary Ridgway. The first considered Operation Augusta and the premature death of 15-year-old Victoria Agoglia. The second covered historic child sexual exploitation in Oldham.
The final report will consider current practice across Greater Manchester to address the risk of child sexual exploitation, and an analysis of the current processes in place under Greater Manchester Complex Safeguarding Hub.
It will also look at the GMP Operations to tackle CSE that have happened more recently: Operation Green Jacket, Operation Bernice, Operation Sherwood and Operation Exmoor.
Part four is expected to be ready for publication by the summer.
Help and support
If you suspect someone of committing CSE or believe someone you know may be a victim, you can report it to GMP via LiveChat at gmp.police.uk or by calling 101. In an emergency, dial 999.
The public can contact Rochdale Borough Council with any concerns or questions on 0300 303 0323, CSEreview@rochdale.gov.uk, or find information at www.rochdale.gov.uk/ChildProtection.
Greater Manchester Victims’ Services provides support for all victims of reported and unreported crime in Greater Manchester. The service is available weekdays from 8am to 8pm and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm via phone: 0800 876 6155 or email: GMVictims@catch22.org.uk.
Saint Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Manchester provides a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to men, women and children who live or have been sexually assaulted within Greater Manchester. They offer forensic medical examinations, practical and emotional support as well as a counselling service for all ages. Services are available on a 24-hour basis and can be accessed by calling 0161 276 6515.
Greater Manchester Rape Crisis is a confidential information, support and counselling service run by women for women over 18 who have been raped or sexually abused at any time in their lives. Call on 0161 273 4500 or email help@manchesterrapecrisis.co.uk
We Are Survivors provides specialist trauma informed support to male victims in Greater Manchester who have experienced sexual abuse, rape or sexual exploitation. Call 0161 236 2182.
If you are struggling to cope or having suicidal thoughts, call the Samaritans 24/7 on 116 123.
The Maggie Oliver Foundation provides emotional support and legal advocacy to survivors and those at risk of child sexual exploitation - The Maggie Oliver Foundation - Helping Survivors of Abuse.
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