Convictions for Rotherham riot EXCEED those jailed for grooming gang abuse

Hundreds protested outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, which was housing asylum seekers, before clashes erupted with the police. A bin close to the hotel was set ablaze while 200 people were inside the hotel.

Over 60 officers were injured during the fracas, with one officer left unconscious and others facing suspected broken bones.

None of the hotel employees or asylum-seeking residents were reported as injured.

Since the summer madness, South Yorkshire Police have made over 100 arrests in connection with the disorder, with 93 convictions.

Of those convictions, 88 have been sentenced, of which 77 have been jailed or detained in an Young Offenders’ Institute.

Earlier this year, the number of people jailed over the riot in Rotherham overtook the number of people jailed for perpetrating the grooming gang abuse in the South Yorkshire town.

Between 1997 and 2013, at least 1,510 victims were targeted by predominantly Pakistani rapists.

For decades, the authorities did not tackle the horrific abuse, which led to government intervention and several reports outlining cover-ups and institutional failures.

GB News data has found that, to date, there have been 68 convictions for group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation in the town.

Two South Yorkshire Police operations into the abuse gangs led to convictions in 2010 and 2017. Operation central saw five men jailed after being found guilty of sex offences against girls as young as 12.

Operation Clover, which was launched following reporting by the Times newspaper and was ongoing at the time of the Rotherham inquiry, concluded in early 2017 with four trials. This saw at least 21 offenders convicted of multiple child abuse offences.

The National Crime Agency was brought in to prosecute the scandal amid controversy over South Yorkshire Police’s handling of the atrocity.

As of last week, its Operation Stovewood has seen 42 people convicted and sentenced to 539 years to be served behind bars.

Some of the Stovewood convictions have seen offenders from Operation Clover sentenced for further offences.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “We still don’t have justice for the victims of the most evil rape gangs imaginable. The authorities have gone after weekend rioters with greater energy than the perpetrators of decades-long rape and sexual abuse of vulnerable girls.”

He added: “Two-tier Keir thinks countless of issues are worthy of an inquiry, but somehow not the rape gangs in over 50 towns and cities across the country many of which persist to this day.

“It can only be because Starmer is squeamish about confronting uncomfortable facts, like the over-representation of Pakistani men in the rape gangs and their racially-motivated hatred of young white girls. It’s shameful.’

A Labour spokesperson said: “Shameless Robert Jenrick did nothing about heinous grooming gangs while he had power as a minister to help the victims of this appalling abuse.

“The Tories did not hold a single meeting with victims, police forces, external organisations, experts or councils. Nor did they lift a finger to implement any of the recommendations of seven-year long national inquiry into child sexual abuse. Instead, Jenrick and his colleagues swept it under the carpet after it was published.

“This is another utterly disgraceful, dishonest, and hypocritical attempt to make political capital out of an issue he could not have cared less about when he was actually in government.”

Tory sources pointed out that the Conservatives held several meetings with victims during their period in government and in 2023 launched the CSE Taskforce in 2023. The grooming gangs taskforce has made over 1,000 arrests and protected thousands of victims.

They added that Jenrick not have ministerial responsible for grooming gangs nor implementing any of the recommendations from the IICSA report.