There are moments when Maggie Oliver admits she can’t quite believe her life has panned out the way it has. ‘I’m shocked and sometimes it’s completely overwhelming,’ says the Greater Manchester police detective-turned-whistle blower who took on the establishment in order to reveal the flaws she’d witnessed during the Rochdale sex gang investigation. Not only had authorities turned a blind eye to the brutal reality of what was happening, but they’d repeatedly failed the young victims of abuse. These girls, notes Maggie, were deemed ‘an underclass’, children who were making ‘lifestyle choices’ and therefore not worthy of the protection they were due.
‘I wanted to give a voice to the kids who’d been failed because I’m far more difficult to brush off and ignore than the kids who’d been written off. I’m an educated woman, I have a degree, I was a police officer and I have a voice that will be heard,’ says Maggie whose book Survivors: One Brave Detective’s Battle to Expose the Rochdale Child Abuse Scandal was recently published. In the autobiography, she not only details her reasons for becoming a police officer, the flawed investigations she witnessed and the ways in which her concerns were dismissed, but how this played out against a backdrop of great personal tragedy.
Writing the book meant revisiting some of the most traumatic times of her life, not only in a professional capacity, but in her personal life too, including the death of her beloved husband Norman and later, their two-year-old granddaughter Macie.
‘But I’m really glad I have,’ says Maggie. ‘I think it was the right thing to do because it’s a record of what happened. It’s truthful, my kids have got something to read when I’m not here, as have my two little grandsons.
Denne historien er fra October 2019-utgaven av Lancashire Life.
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Denne historien er fra October 2019-utgaven av Lancashire Life.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
A Shopper's Paradise
‘Anything is possible’ is the boast of a famous Knightsbridge shop and it could equally apply to Clitheroe, where shoppers come eager to pick up something just that little bit different, especially in the run-up to Christmas
Back from the brink?
There are signs hedgehog numbers might be recovering, and we can all do our bit to help them, says Alan Wright of Lancashire Wildlife Trust
Memories of a LANCASHIRE CHILDHOOD
Blackburn-born Sara Foster has had a string of bestsellers on the other side of the world. With her latest novel now out, she reflects on her Lancashire roots
The tale of BEATRIX'S VALLEY
Land once owned by Beatrix Potter is at the heart of a noisy row over how we enjoy the Lake District
Liverpool's pyramid scheme
We’ve seen the shape of things to come – and it’s a pyramid. But are you ready to spend the afterlife piled high with 34,591 other people in Toxteth?
Around the world in 2000 paintings
Preston artist Martyn Hanks has spent 60 years globetrotting with his paints and brushes
WALKING THE BORDER
This glorious walk in the hills around Earby takes a peek over the county line
We will remember them
For a hundred years the Cenotaph has been the focal point for a nation’s grief, but few know its connection to Kirkby Lonsdale
A pawfect day out
The grounds of Holker Hall at Cartmel are a favourite with human and canine visitors
A LEGACY of LOVE
An unusual war memorial in Lancaster is a haven for wildlife and young people from the city