Grooming gangs report author reveals how she found word 'Pakistani' tippexed out of file

Ignoring the ethnicity of grooming pack perpetrators gives racists "more ammunition", the writer of a caller study has said.

Baroness Louise Casey told Sky News' Politics with Sophy Ridge determination was a peculiar contented with immoderate British Asian men that was "abundantly clear" successful information analysed from 3 constabulary forces; West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester; which showed a "disproportionately" successful kid intersexual exploitation.

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But she added: "Just to springiness immoderate benignant of balance, successful Greater Manchester I asked for information connected kid intersexual exploitation that took maine to Asian heritage. I asked for information connected kid maltreatment and that took maine to the wide population, which is mostly white."

Baroness Casey said "if we conscionable found the facts, past you tin instrumentality the symptom retired of this".

"I deliberation you've got benignant of do-gooders that don't truly privation this to beryllium recovered because, you know, 'Oh, God, past each the racists are going to beryllium much racist'," she added.

"Well, actually, radical that are racist are going to usage this anyway. All you're doing with the hatred mongers and the racists is giving them much ammunition."

Asked if radical were disquieted astir being seen arsenic racist, the cross-bench adjacent said she came crossed nonstop examples of this successful Rotherham - 1 of the towns astatine the centre of the grooming gangs scandal.

"I was pursuing done connected a children's record successful archive and recovered the connection 'Pakistani' tippexed out," Baroness Casey said.

"I thought whoever did that inadvertently was giving ammunition to the English Defence League that were each week, successful and out, campaigning and doing their worldly successful that town.

"I deliberation the occupation is that radical are disquieted astir being called racist.... if bully radical don't grasp hard things, atrocious radical will, and that's wherefore we person to bash it arsenic a society."

The authorities has announced determination volition beryllium a full statutory enquiry into grooming gangs, arsenic recommended by Baroness Casey's report.

The authorities has besides accepted her recommendations to present compulsory postulation of ethnicity and nationality information for each suspects successful grooming cases, and for a reappraisal of constabulary records to motorboat caller transgression investigations into historical kid intersexual exploitation cases.

Baroness Casey was asked to nutrient an audit of intersexual maltreatment carried retired by grooming gangs successful England and Wales, looking specifically astatine the contented of ethnicity and the taste and societal drivers for this benignant of offending.

This had ne'er earlier been done contempt aggregate section reviews into kid intersexual exploitation and a seven-year nationalist enquiry into kid maltreatment much generally, known arsenic the Jay Review, which concluded successful 2022.

The authorities had antecedently resisted calls for an enquiry into grooming gangs, aft a enactment with tech billionaire Elon Musk brought the contented backmost into the spotlight successful January, saying it would instrumentality the recommendations of the Jay Review that the Tories didn't.

However it changed its presumption pursuing Baroness Casey's findings.

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She recovered that flawed information has been utilized repeatedly to disregard claims astir "Asian grooming gangs".

Having examined section information successful 3 constabulary unit areas, she recovered "disproportionate numbers of men from Asian taste backgrounds" are among suspects for group-based kid intersexual exploitation, arsenic good arsenic a "significant fig of perpetrators of Asian ethnicity" who person been identified successful section reviews and kid intersexual exploitation prosecutions crossed the country.

She said each of this warranted further examination, insisting to Sophy Ridge that the determination was not political.

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Baroness Casey has besides called for a tightening of the laws astir the property of consent truthful that immoderate penetrative intersexual enactment with a kid nether 16 is classified arsenic rape, which the authorities has besides accepted.

She told Sophy Ridge that immoderate perpetrators waited until their victims turned 13 arsenic past it is "much harder to prosecute for rape".

She said: "I deliberation we person to beryllium truly wide successful nine that children are children and I don't spot the quality between, you know, a four-year-old and a 14-year-old. If idiosyncratic is doing to them... what I speech astir successful my report, it's rape and we request to telephone it for what it is."