'Ridiculous' - Yorkshire grooming gang victim hits out over early release of offender

A victim of a Bradford grooming gang says it is “ridiculous” that one of her abusers is being released on Monday, after serving only half of his sentence.

Fiona Goddard, who decided to waive her legal right to life-long anonymity to show other victims of abuse "there is nothing to be ashamed of", was abused while living in a children’s home in Bradford when she was 14.

The nine were convicted of 22 offences including rape and inciting child prostitution.

One of the group, Mohammed Usman, of Quaker Street, Bradford, was serving a sentence of 15 years in prison after being convicted in February 2019 of two counts of rape.

However he is due to be released on Monday, after serving seven and a half years.

Ms Goddard said that her abusers being released after half their sentence was “ridiculous”.

“When I sat in the court and heard the sentence, I was so positive,” she told The Yorkshire Post.

“I was shocked when I heard how long they had got, and it made me realise how bad my abuse had been.

“Then I feel like I’ve had it taken away from me again.

“The police investigation was nearly as long as the time he has served in prison.

“There are at least four more of my abusers being released in the next 12 months.”

Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging him to intervene.

He said: “It is wholly outrageous and the Prime Minister could step in if he chose to do so.”

In a letter to the PM, Mr Moore said the independent inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation and Grooming Gangs had been welcomed by many victims and survivors, including Fiona.

He said: “I simply cannot reconcile that you are asking victims and survivors to relive some of their darkest moments, while releasing their perpetrators back onto the streets.”

In June it was announced that Bradford and Keighley would be among the first places to be investigated in the national inquiry, along with Oldham and London.

The inquiry, which will be chaired by Baroness Anne Longfield, will compel individuals and institutions to explain what they "did or did not do to protect children from being sexually abused".

Currently written accounts are being gathered from victims.

Soon people will be able to add video recordings and voice notes.

In the autumn, members of the inquiry team will begin one-to-one conversations with victims who want to speak about their experiences in more detail.

In an interview earlier this year, Goddard said accountability was needed from people in safeguarding roles who “weren't just turning a blind eye to the children's abuse, but added and facilitated it”.

Baroness Casey, who last year carried out an audit into grooming gangs, said previously that authorities had “shied away from” the ethnicity of grooming gangs, allowing the continued abuse of hundreds of vulnerable girls.

She said state agencies should be held to account for any part they played in allowing crimes to go undetected and unpunished.

The Ministry of Justice was contacted for comment.