0:00:00 > 0:00:03operation to catch a grooming gang, here s Chris Jackson with a special
0:00:03 > 0:00:12edition of Inside Out.
0:00:12 > 0:00:13Vulnerable teenagers, groomed and abused
0:00:13 > 0:00:19by a gang of Asian men in Newcastle have finally got justice.
0:00:19 > 0:00:20A multi-million pound police operation has
0:00:20 > 0:00:21uncovered years of sexual
0:00:21 > 0:00:25exploitation of children and young women.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27It s a problem that authorities and young women.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29struggled to tackle.
0:00:29 > 0:00:36But Inside Out can reveal how the investigation here came close
0:00:36 > 0:00:39to collapse after Northumbria Police secretly paid a man who raped
0:00:39 > 0:00:45a child thousands of pounds to infiltrate the grooming gang.
0:00:45 > 0:00:55For the first time, we tell the whole story.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Police - emergency?
0:01:08 > 0:01:10If you try anything - you tried it on with us.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12He tried to sleep with us.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14A police operator takes a 999 call.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16There s an argument going on.
0:01:16 > 0:01:17It s (BLEEP) rape.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20She s my girlfriend, it doesn t matter, it doesn t matter.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Go home, take a taxi, yeh.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Well, go on then.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31What s happening?
0:01:31 > 0:01:33She just wants to go.
0:01:33 > 0:01:41I ll go then.
0:01:41 > 0:01:42No.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44No, I need to know what is going on.
0:01:44 > 0:01:45There s clearly a disturbance there.
0:01:45 > 0:01:46What s going on?
0:01:46 > 0:01:48OK, OK, it doesn t matter, thank you.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50After the call, which lasted several minutes, the handler established
0:01:50 > 0:01:52she was speaking to this man.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54The police did investigate, but took no further action against Minoyee,
0:01:54 > 0:01:59describing his victim as drunk and abusive.
0:01:59 > 0:02:05But six years later, this assault was played out in court
0:02:05 > 0:02:07as part of Operation Sanctuary, a police investigation
0:02:07 > 0:02:17finally lifting the lid on the actions of a grooming gang.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20It exposed how, over many years, a group of Asian men
0:02:20 > 0:02:22from the West End of Newcastle had been abusing vulnerable
0:02:22 > 0:02:29young women and girls.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Throughout much of this programme we re reconstructing
0:02:31 > 0:02:35real-life events.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Sarah was 19, extremely vulnerable and unable to look after herself.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Along with other at risk teenagers, she was regularly
0:02:41 > 0:02:46abused by older men.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49These are Sarah's words, spoken by an actor.
0:02:49 > 0:02:59They just sit there and have a couple of drinks,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04have a couple of puffs of cannabis, get up and dance and they try
0:03:04 > 0:03:10and get into the bedroom by grabbing us like around the belly,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13and when you do that against the door, (Gestures), "NO",
0:03:13 > 0:03:20they still try and drag you though to the bedroom.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Basically, they think that, like with them having a load
0:03:24 > 0:03:26of money and they re married and they ve got kids
0:03:26 > 0:03:33and all of that, that they can go for younger...
0:03:33 > 0:03:37like our age, and have sex with them for like forty quid or a tenner
0:03:37 > 0:03:42or something like that.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45In the new year of 2014, Sarah told the police she d been
0:03:45 > 0:03:49raped by Abdul Minoyee, the same man heard arguing
0:03:49 > 0:03:53on the 999 call three years earlier.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58Ever since I ve kept to myself.
0:03:58 > 0:04:05I haven t told my dad, my family members.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07I couldn t bring myself to tell anyone because I felt
0:04:07 > 0:04:17ashamed, embarrassed.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22And people were going, "have you ever been raped?"
0:04:22 > 0:04:29Well, I bloody well have!
0:04:29 > 0:04:37Now I m telling you, it s proper horrible.
0:04:37 > 0:04:44I need somewhere to go, to be safe.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46A police officer took Sarah on a tour of the West End
0:04:46 > 0:04:55to try to identify Minoyee s house and car and other places
0:04:55 > 0:04:57where what described as "parties" had taken place.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Sarah s information was a red flag, the abuse
0:04:59 > 0:05:03was on a much bigger scale.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07I think it would have set just about every alarm bell ringing
0:05:07 > 0:05:12that it was possible to sound.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Andrew Norfolk is credited by many for breaking what s described
0:05:16 > 0:05:20as a conspiracy of silence over the issue of Asian grooming gangs.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24At the time detectives in Newcastle were hearing Sarah s story,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27the authorities in South Yorkshire were under fire for failing
0:05:27 > 0:05:33to protect hundreds of victims of a grooming gang in Rotherham.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37I find it almost inconceivable that when the Rotherham scandal finally
0:05:37 > 0:05:42erupted there were not a great many police forces and local
0:05:42 > 0:05:44authorities across England sitting there and thinking,
0:05:44 > 0:05:51there but for the grace of God.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53How does anybody know that what was going on in Rotherham
0:05:53 > 0:06:03for all those years wasn t happening in another part of the country?
0:06:06 > 0:06:08And it wasn t just Rotherham, patterns were emerging of similar
0:06:09 > 0:06:10grooming gangs across England.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Here, the detective in charge of Sarah s case told his bosses that
0:06:12 > 0:06:20what she had said signalled something much bigger.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Days later, the officer s hunch was given added weight when two
0:06:23 > 0:06:25girls in care reported that they d been repeatedly raped
0:06:25 > 0:06:27by a group of older Asian men.
0:06:27 > 0:06:34The girls were aged 14 and 15.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36The girls described being driven into Newcastle where they were plied
0:06:36 > 0:06:39with alcohol and cocaine before being raped and beaten
0:06:39 > 0:06:49by several men.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52They were then given money and taken back
0:06:52 > 0:06:54to where they were in care.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56So a team from Northumbria Police began a massive intelligence
0:06:56 > 0:06:57gathering exercise.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01This is the moment when Operation Sanctuary began.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03We re dealing with offences of grooming, rape, drugs
0:07:03 > 0:07:09and human trafficking.
0:07:09 > 0:07:15There are cultural considerations there which we must be mindful of.
0:07:15 > 0:07:21And over the following weeks across the West End of Newcastle...
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Police, police.
0:07:26 > 0:07:27..they carried out a series of raids.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29You re arrested for conspiracy to commit rape.
0:07:29 > 0:07:30What!
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Put your hands in front of you, please.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34It ll all be explained to you when you get
0:07:34 > 0:07:42to the police station.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Conspiracy to commit rape, Nicky.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51Keep it to yourself yet but...
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Inside the flats, the police discovered evidence of partying.
0:07:55 > 0:07:56And any maybes lasses names.
0:07:56 > 0:07:57Oh aye.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Phones, lap tops, sims cards...
0:08:00 > 0:08:01They seized mobiles, computers and drugs,
0:08:01 > 0:08:09anything which would help piece together their investigation.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14At the beginning of 2014, they went public with
0:08:14 > 0:08:16At the beginning of 2014, they went public with the inquiry.
0:08:16 > 0:08:1715 arrests
0:08:17 > 0:08:22as police investigate claims of sexual abuse
0:08:22 > 0:08:28of young women in Newcastle.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Some of them were in local authority care.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32This could be somebody who you see in circumstances that
0:08:32 > 0:08:33just doesn t feel right.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36You see them associating with older boys or indeed older men.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38There can t be any political correctness or any sensitivities.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41They are criminals who have committed some of the worst crimes
0:08:41 > 0:08:44in our society and we should deal with them with the full
0:08:44 > 0:08:45letter of the law.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47If it looks wrong and it feels wrong, then please
0:08:47 > 0:08:48get in touch with us.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Police officers took to the streets on a publicity drive,
0:08:51 > 0:08:58taxi drivers and late night takeaways were targetted.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00The publicity brought results, two teenagers walked
0:09:00 > 0:09:06into Byker police station.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08They told a familiar story, of how they d also been
0:09:08 > 0:09:14abused over several years.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17The girls explained how they'd been sitting on a bench in the early
0:09:17 > 0:09:19hours of the morning in Benwell.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21They were wearing only pyjamas and were picked
0:09:21 > 0:09:23up by Mohammed Azram, known as Azzi G.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27He offered to let them warm up in his car.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31The girls, then aged just 16, were taken away, fed drugs
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and alcohol and then one of them had sex with Azram.
0:09:34 > 0:09:41The story is familiar.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44At first the girls believe they're in a relationship,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46but then, as time goes on, the controlling becomes
0:09:46 > 0:09:49much more explicit.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51They re plied with drink and drugs, upon which they become
0:09:51 > 0:09:52increasingly dependent.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55They re sexually assaulted and shared around amongst the other men.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58So with the abusers in a tightly knit group and their victims often
0:09:58 > 0:10:00traumatized, the police investigation was fraught
0:10:00 > 0:10:05with difficulty.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Perhaps that s why they took a highly controversial decision
0:10:09 > 0:10:11to recruit a man with a shocking past, and it could have
0:10:11 > 0:10:18derailed the entire inquiry.
0:10:18 > 0:10:24A CHIS is what most people would know is called an informant
0:10:24 > 0:10:27or a snout, a grass.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Informants operate in a shadowy world that seldom comes
0:10:29 > 0:10:31to public attention.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Neil Woods has a unique insight, it was his job to handle
0:10:34 > 0:10:41informants in the Midlands.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44CHIS stands for 'covert human intelligence source' It s the person
0:10:44 > 0:10:48who a lot of the time has a criminal background and provides information
0:10:48 > 0:10:57to police officers about other criminal activities.
0:10:57 > 0:11:05The man chosen by Northumbria Police was a convicted child rapist.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07XY, as he became known, was jailed for seven years
0:11:07 > 0:11:11for attacking a 15-year-old girl.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13He d picked her up off the street in 2001,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16plied her with drink and drugs and gang raped her with
0:11:16 > 0:11:22two of his friends.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Despite being a high risk sex offender, the police decided
0:11:24 > 0:11:30to bring XY on board.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33He was already on their books having worked for them for several
0:11:33 > 0:11:34years as an informant.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35His task?
0:11:35 > 0:11:41To act as their man on the inside.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44We can t name XY for legal reasons, but he knew many
0:11:44 > 0:11:45in the grooming gang.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48This, in his own words, spoken by an actor, is why
0:11:48 > 0:11:49the police brought him into the inquiry.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52I was told this is an operation about Asian grooming gangs.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54This is what we are after.
0:11:54 > 0:12:04These are the people we are interested in.
0:12:04 > 0:12:12I had to find out what's going on, where the parties were taking place.
0:12:12 > 0:12:22Last party I went to, one or two, I got to find out about parties,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25so when they were happening, I would ring it in.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Between March 2014 and December 2015, XY was paid ?10,300
0:12:27 > 0:12:29for the information he supplied to his police handler.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33But that wasn t his only reward.
0:12:33 > 0:12:41There are a variety of motivations for CHIS s.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Most of the time it's for financial benefit.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49Sometimes they are providing information because they hope that
0:12:49 > 0:12:52information will mean that they get a discount on a prison sentence,
0:12:52 > 0:12:54if they are on bail for something.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56During his time as an informant, XY benefitted from lighter sentences
0:12:56 > 0:12:59and he was certainly a prolific offender.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02In all, XY had 53 convictions.
0:13:02 > 0:13:08He had a history of fraud and assaults.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10While working for Operation Sanctuary, he was arrested
0:13:10 > 0:13:13for dishonesty, an assault in a mosque and he was even
0:13:13 > 0:13:20questioned about making sexual advances to a 13-year-old girl.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24I think it s absolutely disgusting.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28I don t think any police force should be working with pedophiles.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Sammy Woodhouse was just 14 when she was abused
0:13:31 > 0:13:36by a grooming gang in Rotherham.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38He came to me as me Prince Charming and then later
0:13:38 > 0:13:39on turned into a monster.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44She now advises police forces on how to tackle grooming.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49We showed her our information on XY.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51I think it's an absolute kick in the teeth.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54It s just so insulting.
0:13:54 > 0:14:04They clearly thought that no one was going to know
0:14:04 > 0:14:12about it and they thought they would get away with it.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15How would you describe the behaviour of Northumbria Police
0:14:15 > 0:14:17in using a convicted sex offender like this?
0:14:17 > 0:14:18It s absolutely shameful and they should be ashamed
0:14:18 > 0:14:21of themselves and they need to ask themselves, how would I feel
0:14:21 > 0:14:23if it was my daughter?
0:14:23 > 0:14:26As a victim, I don t think I d go to that police force after hearing
0:14:26 > 0:14:27information like this.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30And if this kind of stuff can shock me, I know it s
0:14:30 > 0:14:32going to shock anybody, and I don t think the public
0:14:32 > 0:14:35is going to be happy whatsoever when this gets out.
0:14:35 > 0:14:41I can completely understand the public s outrage,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45the outrage that a convicted child rapist is going to be paid money,
0:14:45 > 0:14:55but there's no room to be squeamish in this world.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00If you want to investigate child sex offences, you've got to use every
0:15:00 > 0:15:01tool at your disposal.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04We ll probably never know the exact reason why the police used XY,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08what we do know is that their secret strategy could have wrecked
0:15:08 > 0:15:10the whole operation, as we'll see later.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12By the summer of 2015, the police were ready
0:15:12 > 0:15:13to bring their case to court.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15But with more than 20 defendants, the trials
0:15:15 > 0:15:17were divided up into four.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19In the first, eight men were in the dock.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27The verdicts?
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Sailful Islam - ten years for rape.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Mohammed Hassan Ali - seven years for sexual activity
0:15:32 > 0:15:34with and supplying drugs to a child.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Mohammed Azram, Nashir Uddin, Jahanghir Zaman -
0:15:37 > 0:15:40all convicted of sexual assault, drugs offences and inciting
0:15:40 > 0:15:44women into prostitution.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Yasser Hussein got two years for assault and witness intimidation.
0:15:47 > 0:15:54Two others were acquitted.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59But the next cases didn't run so smoothly.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03In March 2016 it emerged that XY - the child rapist informant -
0:16:03 > 0:16:06had fallen out with his police handler and was now threatening
0:16:06 > 0:16:08to go to the press.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11XY had, in effect, gone rogue and was making highly damaging
0:16:11 > 0:16:15claims about the investigation.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18We've obtained a secret transcript of XY s interview
0:16:18 > 0:16:21with the National Crime Agency, which was called in to
0:16:21 > 0:16:25investigate his allegations.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Much of it is so sensitive that it's been blacked out.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32But in the extracts we can read XY claims the police
0:16:32 > 0:16:35operation was racist, that he was tasked by his handler
0:16:35 > 0:16:38to plant drugs at the homes of the grooming gang and even told
0:16:38 > 0:16:42to take vulnerable girls to parties.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46He asked me at one point go pick one up and bring her to the house
0:16:46 > 0:16:52and bring some drugs with ya...
0:16:52 > 0:16:55So I'd go and pick up these lasses take them to the party,
0:16:55 > 0:17:02leave some drugs on the table.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06The claims caused an outcry in the court room.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08The prosecution wanted the whole issue debated in secret
0:17:08 > 0:17:11but the BBC challenged that, which is why we can now
0:17:11 > 0:17:16tell you the full story.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Defence lawyers argued that XY's claims so discredited the police
0:17:19 > 0:17:22case, it was fatally flawed and the trials should be abandoned.
0:17:22 > 0:17:23Years of investigation and a multi-million pound
0:17:24 > 0:17:28enquiry were in jeopardy.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32The prosecution has expressed incredulity at our complaint
0:17:32 > 0:17:34about the deployment of XY.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38A convicted child rapist who drugged a child,
0:17:38 > 0:17:48then contacted someone else to rape her after he had!
0:17:48 > 0:17:50This is a case where a rapist was put into the field,
0:17:50 > 0:17:59where he was with vulnerable young women when intoxicated.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02There were 30 occasions where it was disclosed by XY
0:18:02 > 0:18:08that he had been at parties.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11The police were happy for him to be going to parties, taking drugs,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13being out of control because of the high
0:18:13 > 0:18:19value of information.
0:18:19 > 0:18:26That is an affront to the public conscious.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28He had committed a series of frauds.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32He was arrested for assaulting someone in a mosque.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37He attempted to incite a female in July 2015.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39He was arrested for breaching the sex offenders' register.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41If the public were told this, would they have confidence
0:18:41 > 0:18:43in the administration of justice?
0:18:43 > 0:18:47It is not difficult to predict what the answer would be.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49Eventually the judge insisted XY should be brought to court.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53By now he and his family had been moved out of the area and were under
0:18:53 > 0:18:56round the clock police protection.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01He gave his evidence from behind a screen and blamed his many
0:19:01 > 0:19:07inconsistencies on the pressure of working as a police informant.
0:19:07 > 0:19:14You have to remember that I've been through a lot.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16It's impossible to remember what's true and what's not.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20You've put me through this.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25If I got shot or died it would have been easier for my wife.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30Then she could keep the kids.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34We know who you are you BLEEP grass!
0:19:34 > 0:19:36At one stage there was an angry confrontation involving
0:19:36 > 0:19:40the men in the dock, men who previously saw XY
0:19:40 > 0:19:46as a friend but now discovered he was paid to spy on them.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50In the end, the Judge threw out the defence's attempt to halt
0:19:50 > 0:19:52the trials and dismissed all of XY's allegations.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54She said he was "wholly unworthy of belief" and rejected
0:19:54 > 0:19:56his evidence entirely.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59The police say their watchdog - the IPCC - has cleared
0:19:59 > 0:20:02them of any wrongdoing.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05The judge, though, said it wasn't her job to rule on the police
0:20:05 > 0:20:08decision to employ XY.
0:20:08 > 0:20:14In effect, I am being asked to substitute my judgment
0:20:14 > 0:20:18about the kind of person who should be used as an informant,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20for the judgment of the officers whose work this is...
0:20:20 > 0:20:26That I decline to do.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32Others, though, are not so restrained.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Personally I can't envisage circumstances where I would have
0:20:34 > 0:20:38authorised payment to someone convicted of rape.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42Jim Gamble is the former policeman who set up
0:20:42 > 0:20:47the Government's task force to fight child sexual exploitation.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49When you're desperate for intelligence, I can see
0:20:49 > 0:20:53why there may have been an appetite for it.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58I can't imagine how you could have control mechanisms in place
0:20:58 > 0:21:02with an informant of that type, that you were going to task...
0:21:02 > 0:21:05That would give you reassurance, that they didn't still represent
0:21:05 > 0:21:08a risk to young and vulnerable women, given what I know about this
0:21:08 > 0:21:10particular person's history.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16I think all police forces are under pressure to get things right.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18But there are ways and means of doing it.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21In my opinion, they have gone way over the line on this one.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24I certainly wouldn't like to think that someone is out there
0:21:24 > 0:21:27paying my abuser for information.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32Would I be encouraging police forces across the country to go out
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and find a registered sex offender who'd been convicted of a sexual
0:21:35 > 0:21:38assault against a teenage girl to task and use them
0:21:38 > 0:21:40to infiltrate other groups?
0:21:40 > 0:21:45And the answer to that is no.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47This is the murky world in which we have to operate.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50We have to work in the shadows.
0:21:50 > 0:21:56This is the man with ultimate responsibility for taking on XY.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01We have to deal with people who themselves are guilty of some
0:22:01 > 0:22:07of the most vile offences imaginable, we have to consider
0:22:07 > 0:22:13whether we'd pay murderers for information, pay rapists,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17drug dealers and burglars and quite often these people can't be trusted
0:22:17 > 0:22:20but the potential prize is that you just might get a piece
0:22:20 > 0:22:22of information, intelligence, possibly even evidence,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24that might just lead you to a successful conviction
0:22:24 > 0:22:26and you put bad people behind bars.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30But what message does it send to a rape victim that you might be
0:22:30 > 0:22:31paying their attacker?
0:22:31 > 0:22:34I think it sends out a message that we will do everything we can
0:22:34 > 0:22:37to make sure that other women and girls are not victims
0:22:37 > 0:22:39of the same type of atrocity that they have been.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41That's our commitment.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43In principle it sounds like you would use a convicted sex
0:22:44 > 0:22:48offender again in the future?
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Yes, 100% all day and all night and if I'm presented with the same
0:22:53 > 0:22:56problem I'll do exactly the same thing again because if I'm going
0:22:56 > 0:22:59to be able to protect somebody, and in that individual case I'm
0:22:59 > 0:23:02content that we have not only brought dangerous men to justice
0:23:02 > 0:23:03and put them behind bars...
0:23:03 > 0:23:08In some cases we have actually saved lives on the back of information
0:23:08 > 0:23:14that we have gained and now am I going to take that risk again,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17you're damn right, I'm going to.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20It's inside the law, inside accepted policy and practice.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23I get that people might be quite shocked by it but actually this
0:23:23 > 0:23:27is the right thing to do.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29In the three years since it started, Operation Sanctuary has led
0:23:29 > 0:23:32to a series of other spin off operations - covering human
0:23:32 > 0:23:38trafficking, modern day slavery, drugs and firearms offences.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Northumbria Police say that's resulted in 97 convictions
0:23:40 > 0:23:46and sentences totaling more than 300 years.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49And the last of the four grooming trials ended this week,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52bringing to 18 the number convicted on charges ranging from rape to
0:23:52 > 0:23:57conspiracy to incite prostitution.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Others like Nadeem Aslam were convicted of supplying drugs
0:23:59 > 0:24:03but cleared of sex charges.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Some of the offenders have already been given
0:24:05 > 0:24:06long jail sentences - the rest will be
0:24:07 > 0:24:13sentenced in September.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16I'm absolutely satisfied, however difficult it's been,
0:24:16 > 0:24:18I look at the results that we have achieved.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20There are some vile individuals sat in prison today
0:24:20 > 0:24:23because of the dedicated work that officers in Northumbria Police have
0:24:23 > 0:24:26done to encourage victims and complainants to have the courage
0:24:26 > 0:24:28to come forward.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30So have I any regrets about that?
0:24:30 > 0:24:31None.
0:24:31 > 0:24:40Zero.
0:24:40 > 0:24:46So Operation Sanctuary raises many important questions.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48As in dozens of similar cases across England...
0:24:48 > 0:24:56Why were the abusers exclusively Asian men?
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Here was a crime pattern that had existed for at least two decades,
0:24:59 > 0:25:04and from the very first day we ran our very first article,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06which was in January 2011, saying here is a conspiracy
0:25:06 > 0:25:07of silence in acknowledging this.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13Why are you not acknowledging that this pattern exists
0:25:13 > 0:25:16and from that day one
0:25:16 > 0:25:19what we said is what is absolutely crucially needed,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21it's research to understand why this pattern has put down,
0:25:21 > 0:25:29such deep roots that research is still not being carried out.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31Why is it that there appears to be a predominance
0:25:31 > 0:25:34of this type of offending in a particular community?
0:25:34 > 0:25:36I think that community has to be asked that question.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39I think we can take part in that debate but it's
0:25:39 > 0:25:40not led by the police.
0:25:40 > 0:25:41It's a job for society itself.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44And then there's the issue of whether Northumbria Police missed
0:25:44 > 0:25:46chances to intervene years earlier and save vulnerable
0:25:46 > 0:25:47girls from abuse.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49We know the police were aware of numerous contacts between victims
0:25:49 > 0:25:51and their abusers almost four years before Operation
0:25:51 > 0:25:56Sanctuary was launched.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58There was the 13-year-old child in care in Northumberland who told
0:25:58 > 0:26:01the police that she been raped after being held against her will
0:26:01 > 0:26:05by an Asian man in Newcastle.
0:26:05 > 0:26:12No action was taken at the time.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Two teenage girls were found by the police in a car on a patch
0:26:15 > 0:26:18of wasteland in Newcastle with older men.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23They were drinking and smoking cannabis.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25The officers simply returned the girls to their parents
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and took no further action.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31A known sex offender called Abdul Sabe was spotted with the same
0:26:31 > 0:26:33girls by a probation officer later in the year.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37The police were told and they went to his flat in Walker.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39The girls were drunk.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42But again the police took no action other than taking the girls home,
0:26:42 > 0:26:50and Sabe was back in touch with them soon afterwards.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52In 2012 Bahmani Ahmadi was accused of rape by a 14-year-old girl
0:26:53 > 0:26:56from a Newcastle childrens' home.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59He was interviewed by the police but no action was taken.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04Ahmadi continued to offend and was arrested again in 2014.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06He admitted a string of sexual assaults and jailed
0:27:06 > 0:27:11for six and a half years.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Police emergency.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16And finally the case where the woman was heard shouting
0:27:16 > 0:27:21for help on a 999 call.
0:27:21 > 0:27:22It's BLEEP rape.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24If you want to go, I ll let you.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27It took six years to bring Abdul Minoyee to justice -
0:27:27 > 0:27:30by which time he'd raped another vulnerable young woman.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33We're not perfect.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35We have encountered one individual officer who should have been far
0:27:35 > 0:27:42more diligent and should have done their job better
0:27:42 > 0:27:45and there were some serious failings in what was evidence in relation
0:27:45 > 0:27:48to one offender and that offender is behind bars and has been
0:27:48 > 0:27:51in prison for a lengthy period of time.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53The officer, we sacked them and I would hope would give some
0:27:53 > 0:27:56reassurance that in the course of this we have been
0:27:56 > 0:28:03absolutely resolute.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05The culture of Northumbria Police now is very, very different
0:28:05 > 0:28:06to that of years ago.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09We understand Newcastle City Council has launched a serious case review
0:28:09 > 0:28:12to examine why vulnerable teenagers in its care were not
0:28:12 > 0:28:16better protected.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18The men responsible for ruining so many young lives
0:28:18 > 0:28:23are facing long sentences.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25For the police this cannot yet be case closed.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28While the difficulty of investigating grooming cases
0:28:28 > 0:28:33can't be underestimated - many are left wondering if it can
0:28:33 > 0:28:35ever be right to pay a child rapist thousands of pounds
0:28:35 > 0:28:40from the public purse?
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Hello, I'm Colleen Harris with your 90 second update.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Guilty - 18 members of a sex abuse gang who raped and trafficked
0:29:20 > 0:29:21girls as young as 14 in Newcastle.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Police have defended paying a convicted child rapist ?10,000
0:29:24 > 0:29:25to act as an informant.