Met re-examines 9,000 cases after the Express grooming gang reports

THE Met Police is reviewing 9,000 cases in a huge grooming gangs probe after the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan previously said there were none.

- By Zak Garner-Purkis and Callum Cuddeford

The Mayor of London repeatedly said there were “no reports” or “indications” of this type of crime despite an Express/MyLondon investigation last weekend that exposed several potential incidents.

Last night the Metropolitan Police told the Express: “We are currently undertaking a review of approximately 9,000 cases covering a 15-year period as part of the national reinvestigation into group-based child sexual exploitation recommended by Baroness Casey.

“In line with the definition by IICSA [the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse], these include many cases of such as intra-familial, peer-on-peer and in institutional settings, along with those which do not fit the common understanding of a ‘grooming gang’.”