Thread by @The_War_Economy

A BLITZ ON THE TELFORD GROOMING GANG

Telford is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, and a part of Shropshire, England. It has an estimated population of around 155,000.

google.co.uk/maps/place/Tel…

Telford has recently been in the news as The Mirror conducted an 18-month-long investigation into child sex abuse. The case matches similar incidents in Rochdale and Rotherham, and many others.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

The Mirror interviewed child victims of the grooming, and discovered that the incidents had been occurring since the early 1980s, each one targeted.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

One of the victims of the gang was Lucy Lowe, who was killed in an arson attack - alongside her mother, Linda Lowe, and her sister, Sarah Lowe, on August 7, 2000.

The case was investigated by Detective Chief Inspector Clive Harding of West Mercia Police.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/869651…

Linda's husband, George, his 15-month-old granddaughter Tazneem Mehmood, and Lucy's boyfriend, Azhar Mehmood, 25-years-old, escaped from the fire and were taken to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital for treatment.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/869651…

The same day, West Mercia Police arrested a suspect in relation to the attack.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/870978…

Azhar Mehmood noted that Lucy was expecting their second child together at the time of the arson attack, and told The Times that they were expecting to get married.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/870978…

It later turned out that it was Azhar Ali Mehmood himself that set fire to the house, killing the three of them, in a fit of jealousy and possessiveness. He then lied and claimed he had escaped the house.

He was tried in Stafford Crown Court.

yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/three-kil…

Memhood did this by pouring petrol over the living room and the kitchen floor, setting fire to the house and trapping the girls and the mother upstairs. The father was able to escape through the bedroom window, but could not save them.

yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/three-kil…

According to the case at Stafford Crown Court, apparently Mehmood and Lucy had a "stormy relationship", arguing over her "relationships with other men".

yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/three-kil…

Mehmood was ultimately caught as the culprit when a neighbour noticed him standing outside the house at the time of the fire, as the neighbour was the one who called the fire brigade.

yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/three-kil…

Mehmood was jailed for life.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1…

In fact, he was jailed for four life sentences.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1…

As The Mirror later discovered, Mehmood had actually groomed Lucy in 1997, where she gave birth to Tazneem Mehmood at the age of 14.

None of the charges connected to this at all.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

Worse still, Lucy's death at the hands of Mehmood was then used as a direct threat to other victims of the Telford grooming gang, with the repeated threats, drugging and rape at the hands of multiple men nearly leading one child to committing suicide.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

Another victim was Rebecca "Becky" Watson, who fell onto the bonnet of a car being driven by Ahmed Nawaz. She was 13 years old when she died, suffering fatal head injuries.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2…

According to the report, Watson was with friends when Watson and Nawaz struck up a conversation. At some point, she was apparently convinced to sit on the bonnet of his car and he drove between 20 to 25 mph, travelling 200 metres over 30 seconds.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2…

This incident happened in 2002, and Nawaz was jailed for three years for it. He was also banned from driving for five years and ordered to re-sit his test.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2…

However, as The Mirror later discovered, Watson had actually been suffering from two years of abuse from the grooming gang, which had begun at the age of 11. She had written diaries about being passed around.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

Watson's mother, Torron Watson, had told the police that Becky was being abused, and provided them with a list of suspects.

It was not investigated.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

If only they did investigate, as Becky Watson's friend, Vicky Round, was abused by the exact same grooming gang, who hooked her to crack cocaine at 12-years-old, and heroin at 14-years-old.

She passed away at 20-years-old from a drugs incident.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

In 2010, an investigation was opened up by Telford police named Operation Chalice, with over 100 victims and 200 potential perpetrators. The investigation was shadowed by documentary maker Anna Hall, and released as "The Hunt For Britain's Sex Gangs".

truevisiontv.com/films/details/…

The police learned that the girls were given alcohol, drugs and gifts to groom them, then hired to works at two Indian restaurants, and a fish and chip shop in Telford. They were also driven to hotels in Stock-On-Trent and in Manchester.

dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-ne…

Nine men were placed on trial at Stafford Crown Court; Ahdel Ali; Murbarek Ali; Mohammed Ali Sultan; Tanveer Ahmed; Mahroof Khan; Noshad Hussain; Mohammed Islam Choudhrey; Mohammed Yousin; and Abdul Rouf.

dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-ne…

It was later determined that the ringleaders were Ahdel Ali, Mubarek Ali and Tanveer Ahmed. Ahdel and Mubarek were brothers.

dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-ne…

The investigation centred on the sexual abuse and exploitation of girls between September 2007 and December 2009 in Wellington, with one of the girls as young as 13-years-old.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

Operation Chalice itself was initiated due to concerns from teachers, parents and other civilians in the Wellington area.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

It was also discovered that Abdul Rouf and Mohammed Younis used their own houses as brothels to allow...

theguardian.com/uk/2011/jun/14…

The grooming gang had convinced a 15-year-old to become a prostitute throug alcohol, cannabis and cigarettes, even driving them to a park in Stoke-On-Trent to...

*sigh*

theguardian.com/uk/2011/jun/14…

Two of the girls were groomed in a Telford churchyard, while another 15-year-old was convinced to perform sexual acts on Mohammad Ali Sultan.

theguardian.com/uk/2011/jun/14…

One of the accused, Noshad Hussain, had actually been cleared of trafficking a 14-year-old girl the year before as the jury had been unable to reach a verdict.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

This is the case, as Noshad was on trial in 2012 for bringing a 16-year-old to a restaurant in Telford, where she was paid to have sex with three of the workers.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

The incident also featured the same type of M.O. - another victim in Noshad's case, who was 14-years-old at the time, was supplied with alcohol prior to the incident.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

The case partly fell apart (until the jury were unable to decide on convicting him) as one of the victims said that she was lying, having mistaken Hussain for another man.

shropshirestar.com/news/2012/10/1…

This included a change in story.

shropshirestar.com/news/2012/10/1…

At the conclusion of the case, Ahdel Ali was given a 26-year extended sentence, with 18 years of immediate custody, and an additional eight-year period on licence after release.

shropshirestar.com/news/crime/201…

Mubarek Ali was given 22 years, with 14 years immediate custody and eight years on licence.

shropshirestar.com/news/crime/201…

Mohammed Ali Sultan, Tanveer Ahmed, Mohammed Islam Choudhrey, Mahroof Khan, and Mohammed Younis were also sentenced.

shropshirestar.com/news/crime/201…

Tayyab Khan, that is the worst defence I have ever heard in my life.

"Be lenient because this type of rape is not like other horrible types of rapes".

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

Operation Chalice was carried out by roughly 50 police officers, led by Detective Chief Inspector Neil Jamieson. The investigation also spiralled into areas such as Birmingham and Halifax.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

Here are some of the sentences.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

Tam Sheen created the Calla charity / support group in Telford after the ordeal for both victims add their families who came forward during Operation Chalice.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

Tam Sheen assisted with the "Child Abuse Through Sexual Exploitation (CATSE) Learning 2008 - 2013", which was prepared by NewStart Networks cic and commissioned by Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Board.

google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j…

Tayyab Khan's actions during the case were not great, to say the least.

theguardian.com/law/2013/may/1…

This led to calls for change in the cross-examinations of vulnerable complainants, which was being considered by the Ministry of Justice, alongside other pilot projects.

theguardian.com/law/2013/may/1…

The Mirror's investigation into Telford also revealed that social workers were aware of the abuse in the 1990s, but the police did not launch a probe; that council staff viewed trafficked children as prostitutes instead of victims; and an MP had to intervene to start a probe.

You can read this.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

Authorities also attempted to hamper The Mirror's investigation. Those documents have since been passed to the Home Office.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

They ultimately blamed existing procedures which led to cracks in the cases and the continued abuse of many of these girls.

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

Lucy Allan, the Member of Parliament for Telford, has said she will be raising the issue in Parliament and calling for an independent inquiry into the situation.

West Mercia Police said it took allegations seriously, but the information was not new.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

It has been estimated that there may be a potential of 225 victims in total.

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3…

I'm done. I'm not doing this one anymore. I'll add it to the spotlight pastebin.