WE MESSED UP

TOP COP TELLS OF ‘PROFOUND REGRET’ OVER GMP FAILURES

- JOSEPH TIMAN

THE highest ranking officer at Greater Manchester Police says the force knows it ‘messed up’ on historic cases of child sexual exploitation in Rochdale

GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson claims that the force has apologised for the failings identified in the report into the force’s handling of child exploitation in Rochdale between 2004 and 2012.

However, at a press conference yesterday, former detective turned child sex abuse campaigner Maggie Oliver said the failures identified in the report are still happening today. 

The GMP whistleblower said accountability is ‘critically important’ for victims, but no one involved has faced any consequences so far.

Mr Watson said: “It remains to be a matter of profound regret that victims of child sexual exploitation in Rochdale in the early 2000s were failed by Greater Manchester Police – to them, I apologise. Today, I also recognise the plight of Maggie Oliver and Sara Rowbotham – who advocated for victims and survivors when no one else did, and ultimately enabled the review and publication of this report.