Seven men convicted in UK in latest trial over ‘grooming gangs’ scandal

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

LONDON (Reuters) -Seven men who sexually exploited two vulnerable girls in northern England were convicted on Friday in the latest trial over a decades-old “grooming gangs” scandal.

Greater Manchester Police said the men were convicted after a trial involving a total of 50 offences, including rape and indecency with a child, which occurred between 2001 and 2006.

Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella told jurors at the start of the trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court that the group’s two victims were “passed around for sex, abused, degraded and then discarded”.

Scarmardella also said the two girls were known to social services and that it was “no secret” they were having sex with older South Asian men such as the defendants – a situation with similarities to other grooming gangs.

The men had all denied the charges, but were unanimously convicted by the jury after three weeks of deliberations.

The scandal returned to the top of the political agenda in Britain earlier this year following criticism from Elon Musk of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The owner of social media platform X accused Starmer of failing to tackle the scandal when he was Britain’s chief prosecutor, which Starmer angrily rejected.

A 2014 inquiry found at least 1,400 children were subjected to sexual exploitation in Rotherham, northern England, between 1997 and 2013.

The report said the majority of known perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage and that in some cases local officials and other agencies had been wary of identifying ethnic origins for fear of upsetting community cohesion, or being seen as racist.

Grooming gangs in other towns and cities in England have also prompted criminal prosecutions and local inquiries.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin;Editing by Alison Williams)