A top police chief has vowed to pursue grooming gang rapists and paedophiles “relentlessly” and after decades of failures. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson also said those in positions of power who failed victims in the past “should face justice like anyone else” and warned that offenders who evaded justice because of fears of racism over their ethnicity will no longer be able to evade capture.
He said: “To those who are responsible for these repugnant crimes – as is now very apparent – we will pursue you relentlessly.” The chief constable said the role ethnicity plays in grooming gang offending is a “legitimate question” and would be explored in a future national inquiry.
He added: “It is my hope that where people do bear an accountability, that they should legitimately answer for their decisions and if the determination is that they are somehow culpable then of course they should face justice like anyone else.”
Addressing the report’s claim of 1,000 current investigations ha said the actual number may be lower.
He said: “That doesn’t necessarily mean 1,000 allegations about people, what we have is 269 named offenders, we have 59 investigations and 317 victims. What I can assure you is we will burst every sinew to bring those people to justice.”
