by Donna Birrell, Premier
The Bishop of Manchester has said he doesn’t believe the predatory behaviour of grooming gangs is “confined to any particular ethnic, cultural, or religious group”.
Rt Rev David Walker’s comments are in stark contrast to those of Baroness Louise Casey who authored a report on the scale and nature of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse in England and Wales.
The report, published on Monday, said that the ethnicity of people involved in grooming gangs had been “shied away from” by authorities and not recorded for two-thirds of grooming gang perpetrators. It found that in three police forces – Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire – there was enough evidence to show “disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation”.
Bishop David was speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day just ahead of the report’s publication. He said that his area of the country had seen “more than its fair share” of grooming-gang cases. “In the last three months two gangs have been convicted and sentenced. One, in Rochdale, comprising men of Pakistani origin, the other, in Bolton, all with names and appearances that suggest a White British background.