Rochdale grooming gang trial ends in conviction—will this finally force a UK-wide inquiry?

Seven men were convicted on June 13, 2025, for the systematic sexual exploitation of two vulnerable teenage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, marking another dark chapter in Britain’s long-running grooming gang scandal. The trial, held at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court, involved 50 serious offences, including rape and indecency with a child, allegedly committed between 2001 and 2006. The jury reached unanimous guilty verdicts after three weeks of deliberation.

According to Greater Manchester Police, the survivors—identified in court proceedings only as Girl A and Girl B—endured years of abuse across multiple locations. The offences took place in cars, warehouses, alleyways, and residential flats, reflecting what prosecutors called a “calculated and degrading pattern of exploitation.” Both victims were under the care of social services during the time of the crimes.

Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC told the jury that the girls were “passed around for sex, abused, degraded and then discarded,” pointing to a deliberate pattern of targeting, grooming, and eventual abandonment. The survivors were reportedly given alcohol, drugs, food, cigarettes, and shelter in exchange for sexual acts, while the perpetrators operated with impunity in a community where warning signs were ignored.

The convicted men—most of whom were of South Asian heritage—had denied the charges, but the court found each of them guilty. One of the central figures, Mohammed Zahid, was previously convicted in 2016 for similar offences and had been known to law enforcement for nearly two decades. Another defendant, Kasir Bashir, absconded before trial, prompting the court to remand his co-defendants citing flight risk.

What led to the latest grooming gang convictions in Rochdale?

The trial was the result of Greater Manchester Police’s long-running Operation Lytton, an investigation launched in 2015 to re-examine child exploitation cases in Rochdale following years of institutional failure. To date, Operation Lytton has led to 37 suspects being charged, and more cases are scheduled for trial later this year.

In this latest conviction, the court heard that one of the victims was referred to by professionals as a “prostitute” when she was just ten years old. Reports indicate that despite multiple signs of abuse and complaints raised by care workers, no protective action was taken. Investigators noted that the children were treated as “willing participants” rather than victims of serial abuse.

DCI Guy Laycock of GMP called the outcome a form of “long-overdue justice,” praising the “immense courage” shown by the survivors, who revisited traumatic experiences to testify in court nearly two decades later. Prosecutors emphasized that the case was not about a single incident but a pattern of abuse enabled by neglect and complicity across local systems.

How does the Rochdale case connect to the wider UK grooming gang crisis?

Rochdale has long been one of the epicenters of grooming gang-related prosecutions. This latest verdict follows earlier waves of trials stemming from GMP’s previous operations—including Operation Routh and Operation Infrared—which were launched in the aftermath of the high-profile Rotherham report in 2014. That government-commissioned inquiry, led by Professor Alexis Jay, found that over 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, mostly by men of Pakistani heritage.

The Jay Report exposed widespread failures by police and social services, who in some cases chose not to investigate allegations due to concerns about inflaming racial tensions or being perceived as discriminatory. It also found that officials often dismissed early reports from victims and whistleblowers, citing credibility concerns rather than investigating the claims.

Since then, similar patterns of abuse and cover-ups have been documented in other towns and cities across England, including Telford, Oxford, Newcastle, and Huddersfield. The 2022 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Telford found that more than 1,000 girls were abused over several decades while authorities “actively suppressed evidence” to protect their reputations.

In Rochdale, the latest convictions serve as a grim reminder that many survivors still await justice—and that systemic vulnerabilities remain despite widespread reforms.

What are UK authorities doing to fix failures in grooming gang investigations?

The UK Home Office has announced a series of regional inquiries and funding packages to investigate historical abuse cases more thoroughly. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper recently committed over £10 million to support five local inquiries into group-based child sexual exploitation. However, survivors’ advocates and opposition MPs argue that these efforts remain piecemeal.

There have been growing calls for a single national statutory inquiry with the power to compel evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and enforce accountability across police, councils, and care institutions. Several Conservative MPs have introduced parliamentary motions pressing for such an inquiry, arguing that only a full national approach can uncover the true scale of abuse and the failures that allowed it to continue.

In the wake of the Rochdale verdict, Cooper stated that the case reinforced the need for “unrelenting vigilance and serious institutional introspection.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been forced to defend his record as former Director of Public Prosecutions after facing criticism from billionaire Elon Musk, who accused him of failing to act on early grooming gang intelligence.

Starmer dismissed the accusations as politically motivated and emphasized that the Crown Prosecution Service had acted based on the evidence provided by police at the time. Legal experts have noted that prior to the public exposure of the Rotherham and Rochdale cases, police often failed to frame exploitation as a criminal issue, leading to breakdowns in communication between forces and prosecutors.

How are survivors and the public reacting to the Rochdale grooming verdicts?

The public response to the Rochdale verdict has been marked by a mix of anger, vindication, and renewed calls for reform. Survivors’ groups, including Voice4Victims and the Independent Inquiry Support Network, expressed relief at the convictions but cautioned that many victims are still waiting to be heard.

In several interviews with UK media outlets, survivors described a deep mistrust of public institutions and a sense of abandonment by those who were supposed to protect them. Some said they were afraid to report ongoing abuse because they believed nothing would be done—or worse, that they would be blamed.

This long-standing mistrust is one reason advocates are pushing for survivor-centered reforms that go beyond punitive justice. These include trauma-informed police training, culturally sensitive outreach programs, and mandatory safeguarding audits for all local authorities.

At the same time, concerns have been raised about politicization and racial profiling. Critics warn that framing grooming gang abuse solely through the lens of ethnicity risks stigmatizing entire communities while failing to address broader cultural enablers such as misogyny, victim-blaming, and systemic neglect.

What’s next after the Rochdale grooming gang convictions?

The sentencing of the seven men is expected in the coming weeks. While the convictions offer a measure of closure for the two women at the heart of this case, the broader implications remain unresolved. Questions continue to swirl around how many other victims remain unidentified, how far back the failures stretch, and how institutions will respond to growing political and public scrutiny.

According to Greater Manchester Police, additional suspects linked to Operation Lytton are currently awaiting trial. Meanwhile, legal experts say the momentum created by the Rochdale verdict could influence Parliament’s decision on whether to authorize a full statutory inquiry.

As Britain continues to reckon with the scale of abuse, the enduring legacy of grooming gang scandals may ultimately be measured not just in convictions—but in whether the country’s justice and child protection systems finally change.