Rochdale grooming gang victim ‘should be recognised by Queen’

A victim of the Rochdale grooming gang should receive a royal honour, the lawyer who brought the paedophiles to justice says. ‘Girl A’ should become an anonymous recipient of the Queen’s Platinum Honours, Nazir Afzal, former chief prosecutor for the north of England, has said.

In comments reported by The Telegraph, Mr Afzal said: “I think it would be fitting. She’s owned a debt of gratitude and it would be an easy thing to do – and without in any way jeopardising her lifelong right to anonymity.”

‘Girl A’ gave harrowing evidence at the trial of nine men, who were convicted of raping and grooming underage girls in Heywood and Rochdale at Liverpool Crown Court in 2012. Mr Afzal says that without her bravery the convictions of many other child sex abusers may never have happened.

He told the Telegraph: “The reality is that the case wouldn’t have got anywhere with Girl A’s testimony and I think it’s time to honour that. Sadly, I think some have forgotten just how significant a contribution she made to our whole understanding of child sexual exploitation.

“The success of that single case led directly to Savile, to Yewtree and to every other child sexual offender case that followed on from the changes we made.”

Mr Afzal’s comments come just weeks after three women who were abused by the gangs as children received an apology and ‘substantial’ payout from GMP.

Stephen Watson met the victims at GMP’s headquarters in north Manchester last month where he gave an in-person apology for the police failings in their cases. The top officer acknowledged the force’s failure to protect the women, who were children when they were repeatedly raped and sexually abused.

Mr Watson also apologised for his predecessors’ errors in not investigating the abusers, a culture which happened under the previous Chief constables, including Sir Peter Fahy. He told the women: “It is a matter of profound personal regret that your childhood was so cruelly impacted by the dreadful experiences which you endured. GMP could and should have done much more to protect you and we let you down.”