The Power of the Paedos - another high profile case hits the 'never happened' wall?

[David Guyatt]

1,400 kids! All routinely ignored by the police when they reported what had happened to them. This is police and political corruption on an almost industrial scale ---- and how do the authorities respond? They insist the Police and Crime Commisioner to resign his post? Any discussion of prosecutions, imminent arrest of culpable policemen, politicians or those in social services? Not a chance. One man resigning is all that matters. Let's call it the "media deflection of the century"...

Rotherham child sex scandal: watchdog says police tried to 'disprove' victims

Damning report from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary adds to pressure on police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright

Police station in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Shaun Wright's police force was criticised by official police watchdogs for showing a "disregard for victims". Photo: Getty









By David Barrett, Martin Evans and Gordon Rayner

7:25PM BST 28 Aug 2014



Shaun Wright, South Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner, is under intensifying pressure to resign as a new report disclosed his force tried to "disprove" allegations made by sex crime victims.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, called on Mr Wright to resign over the Rotherham child abuse scandal, as the commissioner's own deputy quit her job saying he should go too.

Mr Wright's police force was criticised by official police watchdogs for showing a "disregard for victims".

Experts from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said the failings may have left some of the most vulnerable people in society, including children, at risk.

Mr Wright has refused to step down from the £85,000-a-year position despite calls from Mr Cameron; Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister; and other senior figures.

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No powers exist to have Mr Wright removed, highlighting an apparent oversight by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, in the legislation which created police and crime commissioners (PCCs) three years ago.
Mr Wright resigned from the Labour party when it threatened to suspend him over the scandal, which exposed how 1,400 young people suffered widescale sexual exploitation including gang rapes, grooming and trafficking.
Mr Wright's deputy, Tracey Cheetham, announced her resignation, saying she believed "it would have been the right thing" for him to go as well.
She said stepping down was clearly the correct option due to the "overwhelming opinion of the public" to whom the the commissioner was "ultimately accountable".
It came as a former Rotherham social worker accused the local authority of deliberately under-reporting the number of children at risk.
"Children at risk were pure statistics and targets. They were not children, they were numbers," the woman, known only as 'Sarah', told the BBC.
"It was all about how to manipulate the figures."
The damning 24-page HMIC report found the force operated what it described as an "investigate to report" policy in rape, sex abuse and other serious crimes, which led to offences not bring recorded immediately.
"This was particularly evidence in the public protection unit, with a great deal of time spent trying to disprove the word of the victim from the outset, rather than record the crime," it said.
"This culture of dealing with reports of crime shows a disregard for victims and is unacceptable.
"It hides the true extent of the picture of crime from the force and is particularly concerning when the offences investigated by this unit are often of the most serious nature and are often the most vulnerable."
It added there was an "inherent risk that a significant number of reported offences of a serious nature have not been recorded" leaving victims "unprotected or at risk of further offending".
One unnamed officer told HMIC inspectors that she had been put under pressure some years earlier not to record rapes immediately, as well as other crimes.
[SUB]Shaun Wright[/SUB]
The HMIC said South Yorkshire should take "unequivocal steps" to end the practice.
It also said the force must launch an independent review of historical records - stretching back at least two years - to ensure "the offence is fully investigated in an effort to bring the offender to justice".
A previous HMIC report into the handling of child sexual exploitation criticised South Yorkshire, claiming that many senior and middle managers prioritised burglary and car crime over sex abuse.
Under the terms of Mrs May's Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 PCCs cannot be sacked, even by the Home Secretary.
They can only be suspended by the local police board if the PCC is charged with an offence that carries a maximum sentence exceeding two years in prison.
There is no power to force an early election, and the next PCC ballot is in November 2016.
Earlier this week an inquiry by Professor Alexis Jay said at least 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham from 1997-2013, mainly by gangs of men of Pakistani heritage, due to a "collective failure" by the authorities.