Swinney is shamed by 'ignored' victims of grooming gangs

JOHN SWINNEY has been accused of “pretending” grooming gangs only operate in England as harrowing new evidence about a Glasgow gang was revealed.

- BY DAVID WALKER Scottish Politics Reporter

Police Scotland have been criticised for allegedly not investigating incidents within a care home where Pakistani men allegedly took advantage of young girls.

This led to fresh calls for an inquiry, with SNP Justice Secretary Angela Constance rejecting previous demands.

She claimed that work was already underway by Police Scotland and the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group.

But critics have said that this is not enough, and that a wide-ranging independent inquiry needs to be launched.

Calls were made by one victim, Taylor [not her real name], who told GB News she was abused for years while living in a care home in the city, with the men getting her and a friend hooked on drink and drugs.

She said: “We would go there and we would be intoxicated. And sometimes you wouldn't even really be aware of what was going on around about you, and, yes, some instances of [being] sexually abused”

She said she was plied with alcohol and drugs, including crack cocaine.

As evidence, she acquired hundreds of pages of information about her time in the home through a subject access request, saying they show the home failed to intervene when she came home late at night intoxicated, with police called when she didn't return.

The files refer to an incident when her name appeared in a group-based child sexual exploitation investigation and that the police visited the care home and spoke to the staff.

She says officers never spoke to her and that the care home was dismissive towards the officers.