Top cops speak out about grooming gangs

GREATER Manchester Police’s chief constable has spoken out about grooming gangs, flags and the huge cost of policing football matches in the city.

- BY JOSEPH TIMAN

Sir Stephen Watson

Taking calls from LBC listeners, Sir Stephen Watson also defended his officers who accidentally shot two victims of the Manchester synagogue attack, claiming the life of one man and seriously injuring another.

During the half-an-hour phone-in, Sir Stephen answered questions about Piccadilly Gardens which he described as 'unpleasant' and gave his verdict on 'policing hurty words' on social media.

He was also asked whether fans of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv would be allowed to come to Manchester, following a controversial decision by West Midlands Police ahead of a match with Aston Villa.

Asked for an update on grooming gangs, the chief constable said that there are eight 'large scale' investigations into historic cases while officers also deal with recent incidents too.

It comes after seven men from a grooming gang in Rochdale were jailed last month.

He said: "Not only have we been really assiduous about smartening up our act and making sure that we never fail people in the way that we did in the past, we are also, while simultaneously looking after the children of today, making sure that those who thought they get away with it have another thing coming. And many of them are languishing behind bars and will do in the very near future."