12/06/2026
Grooming gangs: What happened? How was Starmer involved?
Keir Starmer was head of the Crown Prosecution Service for five years when grooming gangs were being investigated (he was director of public prosecutions from 2008-2013). He announced he was U-turning and would order a full public inquiry into grooming gangs after Elon Musk attacked Starmer and minister Jess Phillips for failing children in January 2025.
In 2013 Maggie Oliver, a former Manchester detective and whistle-blower, told the BBC the CPS "bears a great deal of responsibility for the failures around this issue", including bringing inadequate charges and blaming victims.
Nigel Farage has been outspoken raising awareness about this disgusting abuse since 2014.
PLEASE READ ON: We have shared the extensive timeline of events to highlight the level of injustice and investigations that are ongoing.
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GROOMING GANGS - TIMELINE
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2001: Names of taxi drivers who allegedly picked up girls from care homes in Rotherham to abuse them are passed to the police and council from 2001. The first convictions were not until 2010, with the latest in 2024 - a total of 61.
2004: A Channel 4 documentary about claims young white girls in Bradford were being groomed for s*x by Asian abusers is delayed as police forces warn it could inflame racial tensions. It was finally shown three months later.
2010: 11 men, predominantly of an Asian background, are convicted of offences connected with the s*xual exploitation of children in Derbyshire.
2011: Times journalist Andrew Norfolk starts receiving tip-offs about child s*xual exploitation by predominantly Asian men in Rotherham. It was his insistence on pursuing the story, despite being called racist and concerns the far-right would latch on to it, that eventually led to a national inquiry.
2011: A girl abused by a grooming gang in Huddersfield writes a letter to a judge about the abuse she had suffered. It was not until 2013 that another victim came forward to police to make formal allegations, then dozens of girls and men were interviewed over the next three years. Victims and their families said they repeatedly told police and authorities but nothing happened.
2011: Operation Bullfinch is launched by the police and council in Oxford to look into a child s*x abuse ring in the city. The first convictions are secured in May 2013, then 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020.
May 2012: The first grooming gangs convictions of men from Rochdale and Oldham see nine found guilty of being part of a child s*xual exploitation ring run out of two takeaways in Greater Manchester since 2008. A further five from the Rochdale area were jailed the following year.
May 2013: Seven men have been jailed, it emerges, at the conclusion of child s*x abuse trials relating to offences in the Telford area.
2014: 13 men are convicted of the s*xual exploitation of children in Bristol at the conclusion of Operation Brooke.
2017: A total of 29 men from a Huddersfield grooming gang are charged but a reporting restriction prevents media from reporting on the case to avoid prejudicing other cases. The ban was criticised by far-right groups, with Tommy Robinson - also known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - jailed for 13 months (later reduced to nine months) after admitting contempt for filming outside a court during the trial.
2018: Twenty men, mainly of Pakistani origin, who were part of the Huddersfield child s*x abuse ring are convicted of 120 r**e and abuse offences against 15 girls, and sentenced to a total of 221 years.
Three separate trials had to be held as there were so many of them. More men have been convicted since then, bringing the total number to 41 by August 2021.
2023: A Grooming Gangs Taskforce is set up by Rishi Sunak's government, with qualified officers from all 43 police forces in England and Wales, and data analysts. In May 2024, 550 suspects had been arrested and 4,000 victims identified.
2023: Nine further men are charged with s*xual offences in Rotherham under Operation Stovewood. Most of the offences took place between 2003 and 2008.
2024: Operation Stovewood sees 11 more men from Rotherham convicted for the abuse of vulnerable girls.
2025: Seven men were found guilty of using two teenage girls as 's*x slaves' in Rochdale. Their trial heard evidence in relation to 53 s*xual offences, believed to have been committed between 2001 and 2006, over 72 days.
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What is Keir Starmer's involvement?
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2009: The CPS was criticised for not prosecuting Rochdale grooming gang suspects in 2008 and 2009. It said the main victim was "unreliable" so dropped the case.
2010-2011: In that financial year, child s*xual abuse prosecutions reached 4,794 - the highest during Sir Keir's time as DPP. In 2016/17, there were nearly 7,200 prosecutions.
2011: The decision to not prosecute in Rochdale was overturned by Nazir Afzal, chief prosecutor for northwest England, appointed by Sir Keir.
2013: A Home Affairs Committee report said unlike other agencies, the CPS had "readily admitted victims had been let down by them and have attempted both to discover the cause of this systemic failure and to improve the way things are done so as to avoid a repetition of such events".
2013: Sir Keir revised guidance on child s*xual exploitation to make future prosecutions easier. Before, victims may not have been viewed as credible if they had not complained immediately, if they had used drugs or alcohol, or dressed and acted in particular ways.
2013: The Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel was created by Sir Keir to review CPS decisions not to bring charges or terminate proceedings after 5 June 2013.
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Source Sky News: https://tinyurl.com/byv6ksn3
