How I was punished for breaking the conspiracy of silence on grooming gangs

The renewed interest in the disproportionate involvement of men of Pakistani origin in historic group child sexual abuse has led to trenchant criticism of the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. What has been less acknowledged is the failure of the children’s sector to acknowledge the horror of what was happening. They were part of a consensus which betrayed some of the most vulnerable and innocent children in the UK. 

I worked with offenders for 23 years and led the Prison Service for seven, resigning in 2005 to lead Barnardo’s. A couple of years into the job, I heard the first tentative – but invariably dismissed – suggestions that the perpetrators of the grooming and sexual abuse of children were predominantly of Pakistani origin. 

I decided to see for myself. I spent time in Middlesbrough, my home-town, visiting often and going to the streets until the early hours of the morning observing potential perpetrators.