Missed Chances To Stop Oxford Paedo Gang
14 May 2013, 18:00 | Updated: 15 May 2013, 20:57
The victims of the Oxford sex ring were just children and should have been protected by the law. But police missed several chances to catch their abusers.
Girl A: In February 2006, the 14-year-old told police that she had been held against her will by two Asian men. She said they forced her to snort cocaine and left her in an unconscious state.
Then, in September 2006, the girl told police she had had sex with one of the defendants - Akhtar Dogar and another man in a park in exchange for drugs. She told police: "They treated me like a piece of meat. They're doing it to other girls. Little girls with their school uniforms on.''
The girl was examined by a doctor who found injuries consistent with "forceful'' sex. Dogar was interviewed by police about the allegation on September 13 2006 but denied rape, suggesting the girl had mistaken him for another Asian male.
The girl withdrew her complaint and she could not continue giving evidence in a separate trial of three men accused of raping her in 2005.
Girl B In August 2006, the 14-year-old was taken to a flat off Rectory Road in Oxford, and rang police after realising she was with 11 men who wanted to have sex with her.
The girl was spoken to away from the men and admitted she was 14 and had run away from a children's home.
The following day, she made a statement saying nothing happened and withdrew her complaint because she was scared.
Girl C Another 14-year-old told police she was attacked by Bassam Karrar in a guest house in Oxford in November 2006 while he was said to be high on cocaine.
Police found the girl in the basement "extremely distressed, crying and shaking''. She told police she had been held against her will, drugged, raped and repeatedly smacked in the face.
The girl was taken to a police station where photographs were taken of her injuries. But she later dropped her complaint after pleas from another girl who was seeing Karrar at the time.
Girl D Went missing from a care home 126 times in 15 months and staff realised she was being groomed. In October 2007, the 13-year-old girl told a male social worker she was receiving calls from the Karrar brothers.
When he answered one of the calls, a man demanded to speak to the girl and began threatening the social worker when he refused.
In January 2008, she had a meeting with a police officer and welfare officer at her school, where she told them she had been raped.
Girl E Spoke to police and a social worker in June 2012 when her mother alerted them that she had been out all night. Her clothes were seized and a DNA match to Zeeshan Ahmed was found.
He was charged under Operation Bullfinch, which was set up in May 2011.
Girl F The then 16-year-old was interviewed and admitted she had been having sex with men for a couple of years.
She said Girl E had been sold to other men.