Shocking report reveals one in four accused of 'street grooming' is Asian

One in four men accused of ‘street grooming’ underage girls for sex is Asian, a shocking  report reveals.

In total, 2,379 offenders are suspected of attempting to lure vulnerable victims, often using drugs and alcohol, over the past three years.

And a ‘disproportionate’ 28 per cent of them were found to be Asian, in those cases where
 ethnicity was recorded. The ethnic group makes up just six per cent of the UK population.

Cruising the streets: Police surveillance footage shows Mohammed Liaqat and Abid Mohammed
Saddique in their BMW speaking to girls in Derby

But although the figures are likely to provoke controversy, officials warn that they are
 incomplete and potentially misleading.

The report was ordered after the ringleaders of a Derby gang, which subjected a string of
 vulnerable girls to rapes and sexual assaults, were jailed earlier this year. Following the case, 

former home secretary Jack Straw accused some Pakistani men in Britain of seeing white girls as
 ‘easy meat’ for sexual abuse.

Several police forces have investigations currently going on into gangs suspected of
systematically abusing young girls.

Jailed: Abid Mohammed Saddique (left) and Moha

mmed Romaan Liaqat (right), were leaders of the paedophile
 ring in Derby

The latest figures were revealed in the most detailed assessment yet
 of a

 crime that takes place ‘under the radar’.

Civil servants have spent weeks arguing over how best to
present the potentially incendiary findings of the six-month
study, which examined

figures dating back to 2008.

It found that of 1,217 offenders whose ethnicity had been recorded, 346 were Asian, 367 white, 38 black, 464 unknown and two Chinese.

Analysis revealed that 28 per cent of offenders are Asian.

The majority of offenders were men aged between 18 and 24, with

 many using flattery and gifts to make victims believe they had an ‘older

 boyfriend’. 

Of the 2,083 victims, 61 per cent were white, and most aged 14 or 15.

 Many were in care, or had a history of running away from home.

And many victims were reluctant to speak to police and feared 

appearing in court because ‘they did not expect to be believed’.

However, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre said its research is incomplete because authorities across the UK are failing to record basic information. 

Peter Davies, who leads the agency, said local authorities charged with protecting children are
 failing to take  ‘elementary steps’, including recording statistics.

He said: ‘This is a horrific crime, it involves the systematic,
premeditated rape of young children.

‘There should be no hiding place anywhere for people who plan
and take part in this type of crime.

‘Victims need a level of help and support that in most parts of the
country they do not receive and is not on offer to them.’ Mr Davies
admitted the figures did reveal a ‘disproportionate’ number of male,
Asian offenders.

in the Derby case, Abid Saddique and Mohammed Liaqat, part of a gang of nine
, cruised the streets of the town, picking victims who they plied with vodka and cocaine
 before
 attacking them. In January, they were told they would serve a minimum of 
11 years and 
eight years respectively before they could be considered for release.

But he warned: ‘Focusing on this problem simply through

 the lens

of ethnicity does not do it service.’

The Government will publish an action plan in the autumn, 

detailing how it will respond to concerns about the
sexual exploitation of children.

Last week, Children’s Minister Tim Loughton provoked a row

by suggesting that ‘closed’ Asian communities have
turned a blind eye to

 child sex grooming by gangs of men.

He said criminals had escaped detection because of attitudes
within

 their communities as well as ‘political correctness and racial
 sensitivities’

of the authorities.

Anne Marie Carrie, of Barnado’s said the report confirms
not

 all victims

 come forward.

‘Still more children remain trapped under the control 

of their abusers

 because we are failing to spot the signs,’ she warned.

Home Office Minister James Brokenshire said:

 ‘This assessment is an important step in our understanding an
extremely complex issue.’