Telford abuse: Victim numbers ‘sensationalised’ says police chief

Telford MP Lucy Allan tweeted yesterday “I have asked for an urgent question in Parliament tomorrow BBC not strong on standing up for white working class”

The BBC has reported on her question in Parliament here.  

Conservative politician Lucy Allan addressed fellow politicians in the wake of reports claiming up to 1,000 children could have been targeted in her Telford constituency. Ms Allan said the cases would not have happened had the victims been from different backgrounds. Ms Allan said the girls were targeted because of their backgrounds.

“It is also why so often they are miscast as bringing it on themselves, they are miscast as indulging in risky behaviour, as being promiscuous, as somehow being to blame for what is happening to them . . . How did it happen that our young girls are being traded for sex in what is becoming a routine way? Whether it’s from takeaways or taxis or betting shops, it’s happening in our streets.”

Meanwhile, the country’s top child protection officer said “difficult cultural questions” needed to be asked about the type of abuse seen in Telford. Addressing a Home Affairs Select Committee, Chief Constable Simon Bailey asked: “What culturally drives this? What culturally permits the type of abuse that we are seeing in that particular offending model?”

But later this morning this – 

Reports on the scale of sexual abuse in Telford are “sensationalised”, a police chief has said. 

West Mercia Police Supt Tom Harding “significantly disputed” the figures. “I don’t believe Telford is any worse than lots of places across England and Wales,” he said.

(The Sunday Mirror report) found “groups of mainly Asian men” targeting vulnerable white teenagers in the town.. . But Supt Harding, who is in overall charge of policing in Telford, rejected a number of the claims. 

“I significantly dispute the 1,000 plus figure and do feel it is sensationalised. Read the headlines, read the reports. What are they actually discussing? They’re discussing cases from 20 or 30 years ago, offending back in the 1990s…”

Supt Harding disputed claims offenders are predominantly groups of Asian men, adding: “You look at Operation Chalice and that was a prosecution that happened to be a number of Asian males. What I would say is sexual offending across Telford and Wrekin is virtually identically proportionate to the break-down of society, so it is not one particular section over others and we will tackle it wherever it is.”