A gang of nine Asian men was yesterday found guilty of plying white girls as young as 13 with drink and drugs so they could “pass them around” and use them for sex.
Police investigating the gang’s crimes denied there was a “racial or cultural” issue and said it was about adults abusing vulnerable children.
A chance to stop the gang was missed in 2008 by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, which apologised for their failings.
The 11-week trial heard the men – all from Pakistan, apart from one Afghan – groomed and “shared” the young white girls because they were vulnerable.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood of Greater Manchester Police said: “It is not a racial issue. This is about adults preying on vulnerable young children. It just happens that in this particular area and time the demographics were that these were Asian men.” A spokeswoman for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre said child sexual exploitation spanned “all cultures and ethnicities”. – (PA)