Only ‘limited number’ of rape gangs deported

POLICE and prosecutors in Scotland have been able to convict and deport only a “limited number” of foreign child grooming gang perpetrators, Jo Farrell has admitted.

- BY BEN BORLAND

The Chief Constable condemned “vile” rape gangs and stressed the force’s determination to stamp them out and bring the criminals to justice.

Speaking at a Scottish Police Authority board meeting yesterday, she said: “Instances where vulnerable young people are victims of group-based child sexual exploitation rightly appal communities.

“Preventing this vile offending — groups of men targeting and trafficking children for sexual abuse — and bringing perpetrators to justice sits at the core of my motivation as a police officer and the entire mission of Police Scotland to keep people safe.”

She cited Baroness Louise Casey’s damning audit into the scale of the problem in England and Wales. It found that gangs, often made up of British Pakistani men, were often not investigated due to a culture of “blindness, ignorance and prejudice”.

Ms Farrell highlighted how police in Scotland have been able to have such perpetrators convicted and deported, but noted it was a “limited number”.