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A UK LAWYER who led prosecutions against a child sex abuse ring in the town of Telford has said that he knew those cases were just the “tip of the iceberg”.
Nazir Afzal – who has overseen similar high profile cases in the UK – said he knew “more would come out”.
Afzal was speaking following an investigation in the UK Sunday Mirror into child sexual exploitation in the town which lies to the north west of Birmingham in Shropshire.
The Sunday Mirror said that the scale of the sexual exploitation made it the UK’s “worst-ever child grooming scandal”.
It said that abuse has been widespread in the town since the 1980s, when girls were targeted “by groups of mainly Asian men”.
It said there could have been up to 1,000 victims throughout the years.
The investigation has prompted calls for a fresh inquiry into child abuse and exploitation in Telford.
The BBC reports that Afzal led prosecutions concerning offences in Telford.
Speaking on the Victoria Derbyshire programme, Afaz said:
I prosecuted, when I led nationally, the Telford original issue, I knew then that this was a bigger issue not just in Telford but everywhere.
Police response
West Merica Police released a statement today saying that tackling CSE (child sexual exploitation) “is, and has been for some time, the number one priority for police in Telford”.
“We have specialist officers and resources in place tackling this type of offending, and we are committed to using our resources and technology to pursue anyone who sexually offends against children – whether that offending took place today, last week or years ago,” said assistant chief constable Martin Evans.
He said that the issue of offending against children had risen in profile as a result of a number of high profile cases in recent years.
“We are aware of all the cases the Sunday Mirror newspaper has directly referenced. This information is not new to the police,” he said.
It is really important to me that anyone who feels they are a victim of such crimes, or that they know someone who is, can come forward – knowing they will be taken seriously and will be looked after, and that we will go wherever the evidence takes us to investigate these crimes.
A Telford MP earlier said that young girls were being “traded for sex in what is becoming a routine way”.
Conservative politician Lucy Allan has previously called for an inquiry into allegations of abuse at Telford.
A similar inquiry took place into widespread abuse and exploitation of children in the town of Rotherham.
The Journal, thank you for finally reporting on this and helping to give these girls a voice, something the UK government has consistently failed to do.
@PutinBot 5001: all the same they report it when most people have gone to bed! what have the progressives got to say about this carry on? They claim to be feminists after all!
@Mejo: They’ll probably blame it on colonialism or something. The usual tripe. Somehow, they’ll make it the victims fault.
@PutinBot 5001: The Journal is a private news website with limited resources. They can’t be expected to report every individual story immediately at the whim of each reader, that’s entirely unreasonable. It is interesting though that the same people who were clamouring for this story to be published on The Journal yesterday are active members of the Roman Catholic Church, a foreign organisation based in Italy which destroyed Irish culture and covered up mass paedophilia and child abuse against Irish children for over a century.
@Michael Knight: Ssshhhh… take your waffle elsewhere please. I’m not interested.
@Michael Knight: Yes, that’s obviously what I’m doing.
@Michael Knight: Lol give it a rest you muppet
@Michael Knight: You do realise that you’re doing the exact thing you’re accusing him of, right? Total deflection in comment #1 to the RCC.
Seriously, why bother? It’s so tiresome. And that’s coming from somebody who has nothing but utter contempt for the Church.
@Malachi: He’s a gobshìte. Don’t mind him.
@Malachi: It’s funny to watch PutinBot clutching at straws for dear life, forgive me!
@Michael Knight: Go to bed, blyat.
@Michael Knight: Lad, you’re on an article about an unbelievably ghastly child abuse scandal and all you’ve done is shamefully drag your pet issue into it in every single comment.
He’s not the one looking dumb here. Whether there’s a double standard regarding RCC abuse or not, this isn’t an issue that deserves your obfuscation and whataboutery. It’s desperately embarrassing to read through these comments.
@Michael Knight: nothing to say about the article itself no ?
@Malachi: I thought better of you, shame you can’t spot the faux outrage and what lies beneath it. Be a cheerleader so
@Michael Knight: I’m not being a cheerleader. I know exactly what you’re referring to and I can see it too.
When people deflect and dodge the facilitation and cover-up of child abuse from the RCC by bringing up their pet issue (e.g. Islam or immigration), it’s vile.
When people like yourself deflect and dodge the child abuse carried out by mainly gangs of mainly Muslim men in the UK by bringing up their pet issue (e.g. the RCC or the right wing), guess what, it’s still vile.
If you can identify the idiocy when it comes to the RCC, then why roll around in the mud with them? It does nothing but degrade the discourse to petty point scoring and you come off no better. This isn’t a difficult principle.
@Malachi: He’s alluding to his theory that my “faux outrage” is based on my supposed racism and “islamophobia”. It is not. It is based on the fact that I have two daughters and this kind of thing absolutely repulses me, no matter who is doing it. Don’t even talk to that moron, he’s a phony, a bullshìtter, a troll. Totally insincere in everything he says. It is so obvious that it’s actually quite pathetic. Either he does it for some weird kick or he is actually paid to do it by some entity.
@PutinBot 5001: He’s alluding to the fact that many people refuse to acknowledge and criticise the widespread child abuse facilitated by the RCC yet are more than ready to criticise muslims when they’re doing it.
To be fair – there are plenty of people like that, even in these comments. That’s undeniable. That does *not* mean it’s legitimate to do the exact same thing in reverse (see: every thread on this article) and feel like you’re in some way justified.
I do suspect he’s genuine in his opinion (somewhat) but he’s just being ridiculous about this, and I suspect that he knows it.
This isn’t Trump v. Hillary here, it’s the rape of children. Standards are important. There’s no point in identifying such a grotesque double standard then indulging in the same type of nonsense.
‘You should be on a watch-list, defending child rape in Ireland and deflecting to throw people off the scent about what’s happening in another country’
Michael Knight.
Dear moderators.
This is a defamatory accusation without any foundation against another contributor on the Journal forums.
It should be removed immediately.
Disgusting comment.
@Malachi: Unless it’s a bit of fun ;) I enjoy watching these morons chase their tales and run rings around themselves now and again. I call it downtime.
@Malachi: You would think that this would be the one thing that everyone could agree on, without contention. “Michael” here is just a waffler, trying to stir shit for kicks. It’s the same old schtick he’s used with other accounts. So boring now. Alt right, Catholic Church, blah blah blah…..
@Michael Knight: This is a topic for you to have a bit of fun with, is it? You really are a sick and twisted fùcker.
@Michael Knight:
You’re a loose canon, a rabid dog, a litigation waiting to happen. I’d say the mods will put you out of your misery shortly.
@PutinBot 5001:
For all his ranting about fundamentalism he displays many of the characteristics of the fanatic and the extremist. The irony is obviously lost on him.
@David Sinclair: At least he lost something, he’s definitely still a virgin.
@PutinBot 5001:
Off his rocker if you ask me.
@David Sinclair: You’d know wouldn’t you? Seeing as you’re the same person. Derp.
@Michael Knight: Trolling people on Trump or immigration articles for ‘downtime’ I can understand.
“Trolling” people by obfuscating about the systematic gang rape of small children, I can’t.
Seriously – I suggest you get a better hobby. This was odious – I’m not being sanctimonious here but really there are some things that just aren’t worth being a **** about.
@PutinBot 5001:
Well, tat’s certainly a departure….and here’s me trying to defend your good name. The Journal forums never cease to amaze me.
@David Sinclair: mmmhmmm
@Michael Knight: are u just a wannker??
Mainly Asian men does not mean they are Japanese….They are Muslim men from Pakistan and Bangladesh in the main….BBC did not call the IRA European men….Amazing think is that they work together and pass the girls around…..Most men would want to hide the fact they are having underage sex in any other community….To be fair small number of Immans have admitted there is a problem in some parts of Muslin community in England…
@John003: Well it was all OK for their main man. Marrying a 14 year old.
@John003: it was an insult to Asians as we know them. Everybody knew their ethnicity.
@John003: Praying to a paedophile 5 times a day certainly doesn’t help the cause.
@Paul Furey: She was 6, not 12.
@Paul Furey: He married a 6 year old and had sex with her when she was 9. Be careful what you say about them though, you might not be allowed enter England!
@Dj: The ‘virgin’ Mary was raped by the Catholic Holy Spirit aged 13, Catholics worship paedophiles too, hence turning a blind eye to their rape of children in Ireland.
Tony Daly is back
@Michael Knight: Was she raped? Would that mean that IVF treatment counts as sexual intercourse? You’re not too bright, are you Michael? That’s what unthinking reactionary dogma does to the brain – dulls an otherwise perfectly functioning organ. And to save you further embarrassment, please note, I’m not Catholic.
@Andrew Eager: I don’t remember reading the part in the Bible where the 13-year-old Mary asked the Holy Spirit to impregnate her? So yeah, she was raped. No consent, pretty simple concept.
@Michael Knight: There’s only one thing worse than making people think you’re not very bright, and that’s proving that you’re not very bright to them.
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
First chapter of Luke’s Gospel.
Morto for you. That took me two minutes.
@Andrew Eager: Ha ha! It’s a fairytale dumbass!
@Michael Knight: Now you’re saying something that you took exception to, never happened in the first place? I think it’s time you had a lie down Michael, before you hurt yourself.
@Michael Knight: that’s right micheal, Catholicism like islam is a disease , both riddled with peadophila, we woke up to the church, now we’re waking up to the Muslim threat.
@Michael Knight: hahahahaha. That’s called a burn in modern day parlance hahahahaha
@Andrew Eager: I think if it was brought to trial nowadays the case would be that a minor was coerced into consent through fear and hence raped. Anyway, open the new testament and what do you read first? The genealogy of Jesus through Josephs line.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: Yeah, but it wasn’t today, it was 2000 years ago when life expectancy was much shorter and they hadn’t concepts of tweens, teenagers, adolescents, young adults etc. They had child and adult. Not ao much apples and oranges but apples and penguins. All of which makes me wonder what your point is?
Half the town must have known.
@David Dickson: 1 in 14 Catholic priests in Australia involved in child abuse, that figure is probably way higher given the world’s largest paedophile ring’s track record. http://www.thejournal.ie/catholic-abuse-australia-3224627-Feb2017/
@Floyed Pink: And the Catholic Church are a real estate portfolio business who systematically covered up the rape of children worldwide, most notably in your own country, Ireland, yet your are a card-carrying member. What does that say about you?
@Michael Knight:Oh ffs a-hole. Unless you have a time machine in your garage, shut your hole.how about trying to prevent the rape of more children in the present and learn from the past.
@Michael Knight: Total whataboutry. Nobody is justifying or defending what the Catholic Church has done here. It’s been repeatedly exposed over the years and strongly condemned. People have come out and spoken about it. What the Catholic Church has done does not in any way what so ever excuse the Muslim child grooming gangs of which people have been reluctant to speak out against them in fear of being branded a racist or bigot. The police, politicians and the media have been compliant in this cover-up over the years.
@Buck Russell: You Catholics have some big time blatant gall! Wolves in sheep’s clothing!
@Michael Knight: Why are you trolling on this article, do you actually think it’s funny? Do you know what these girls went through… Absolutely shameless. You really are a vile person.
@Michael Knight: What does that justify?
@PutinBot 5001: And tomorrow you’ll be ridiculing girls on another article, calling them feminazis and making disparaging comments. Would you get ta fuuuk!
@Michael Knight:
Going off on a tangent about Catholics on an article is very telling though. Easy to see how you are so easily duped!
The Journal’s “atheist” ‘Islamic defender in chief’
@Michael Knight: zzzzzz
I am astonished at how little coverage this Muslim child grooming phenomenon has gotten in Ireland. Having read the Ryan report, I know that any of these towns (Rotherham, Newcastle, Guildford) are each equal in scale to the abuse that occurred in Irish institutions, except that each were over a ten to 15 year period (rather than a whole country, over a forty-fifty year period of investigation). Many similar themes emerge: denial by the authorities, neglect, shifting responsibility, reluctance to report and prosecute and media groupthink. This story is covered by both the BBC and the Telegraph, but not the Guardian. The Guardian is highly allergic to talking about sexual assault where minorities (esp. Muslims) are seemingly culpable and where the hapless local authorities and police are Labour-led. This is similar to the Irish media & officialdoms’ attitude to this sort of thing back in the day: ignore, ignore, ignore, it’s not happening. There’s an opinion piece on campus rape instead, probably the 1,000th time they’ve written about his. No balance.
@Mártan Ó Conghaile: Surprisingly, the Guardian did cover it, though of course, they made no mention of the perpetrators.
@Mártan Ó Conghaile: It’s got very little coverage in Ireland because paedophile protectors like those commenting on this article don’t want any light shone on their Catholic Church, disgusting really.
51 countries in Asia spanning over 5,000 miles. Could you be more specific?
@Shane Gleeson: The one that’s an acronym! Punjab-Afghania-Kashmir-Sindh-istan.
Everyone please watch this. Its a speech by the journalist that exposed the Rotherham rape scandal. Its an unbelievably heartbreaking watch but this is something we need to start talking about. https://youtu.be/O7P7ih1GuuQ
@Dermot Mc Carthy: Haven’t you heard “open your heart they enrich our culture”. The population will increase by one million and we must welcome that
@Dermot Mc Carthy: It’s Andrew Norfolk from The Times, liberal left-wing cultural Marxist media outlet, fake news, can’t be trusted. Now if it was someone from Breitbart or 4Chan I’d probably believe this video, but it’s mainstream media so Fake News.
@Michael Knight: to make such a comment You obviously didnt watch the video or you’re more likely a troll. If youre being genuine, you are a pathetic coward and moron who is beyond redemption
If the crime isnt bad enough , the attempt to cover it up is even worse.
The youngest and most vunerable people in society betrayed and sold down the river for fear of causing offence to muslims.
Type, picture of Asian man into Google an you get, Asian looking men, not Pakistanis. If Russian men abusing children in China but were referred to as mainly western European males. There would be uproar. I listened to a British MP in the commons speaking on this topic. He claimed up to I million individual rapes were carried out by British/pakistani muslims. There was total silence, when he suggested that Muslim leaders and imams address the problem there was gasps and boo’s. Islam is been portrayed as a religion of peace, crimes are covered up. The truth is hidden. Leo want to bring in 1 million immigrants, many from pakistan, if we dont learn from Britons mistake, we can expect the same in Ireland in the future. Islamaphobia is a healthy phobia, espically when your been lied to.
The late night drop of this story that has been out for days is just another example of our leftist, jellyfish of a media trying to smother uncomfortable stories. Cowardly.
We all know the community’s involved in this as its the same type of people involved in the rochdale one
But no one is allowed to question it as the cops in england are stopping most of the mainstream reporting
have your say