:00:11. > :00:21.Welcome to the programme. Here is what is on the show tonight. Are we
:00:21. > :00:22.
:00:22. > :00:29.doing enough to protect our children? I hope that my brothers
:00:29. > :00:38.were in England will do the same. The business promising to buy your
:00:38. > :00:48.home, but at what cost? The teenager who is sleeping his life
:00:48. > :01:02.
:01:02. > :01:06.away. This is the 4th time it has Never before have there been as
:01:06. > :01:13.many questions about whether we are doing enough to protect our
:01:13. > :01:20.children. There are claims about white girls being targeted by gangs
:01:20. > :01:30.of Pakistani men. And claims that authorities have turned a blind eye.
:01:30. > :01:40.Is enough being done to stop the abuse? What we're talking about is
:01:40. > :01:49.hard core criminality. Nine men have been sentenced. The shame is
:01:49. > :01:52.I'm Mohammed Shafiq, a broadcaster in my own right and CEO of the
:01:52. > :01:54.Ramadhan Foundation. Our organisation works to build a
:01:54. > :01:57.better understanding between Britain's diverse communities and
:01:57. > :02:00.that is why I am on a personal journey across the north of England
:02:00. > :02:10.and to Holland to discover more about the realities of grooming and
:02:10. > :02:24.
:02:24. > :02:34.Recent scandals have raced questions about how the system
:02:34. > :02:39.
:02:39. > :02:41.failed to prevent this crime. This is the street where the
:02:41. > :02:44.Rochdale groomers operated from. A recent local council report
:02:44. > :02:48.admitted that the police and social services repeatedly failed to
:02:48. > :02:50.listen to the cries for help of the victims. I want to know what it is
:02:50. > :02:53.that social services missed and what were the consequences.
:02:53. > :02:56.I think what's really important is the starting point is that it can
:02:56. > :02:59.happen to any child. Hilary Wilmer is an expert on
:02:59. > :03:02.identifying the signs so many social workers and police officers
:03:02. > :03:05.seemed to have missed. A definite pattern of behaviour in both the
:03:05. > :03:08.groomers and their victims. Grooming is a highly sophisticated
:03:08. > :03:11.thing and the men know exactly what they are doing. She's come to
:03:11. > :03:13.address the professional women members of the Soroptimists. Even
:03:13. > :03:17.in leafy Harrogate in North Yorkshire there's an acceptance the
:03:17. > :03:20.problem can be found in virtually all towns and cities. And as girls
:03:20. > :03:25.and parents from across the North have told us, most victims are not
:03:25. > :03:35.from a children's home or a dysfunctional family. You will find
:03:35. > :03:41.
:03:41. > :03:51.what you hear next disturbing. men had given vodka or, cigarettes
:03:51. > :04:00.and alcohol. I remember talking to a young guy and we ended up in a
:04:00. > :04:10.hotel. I walk up with no clothes on. She may be passed from man to man.
:04:10. > :04:11.
:04:11. > :04:14.If I think I would calculate it, there would be about 30 men. There
:04:14. > :04:19.are a couple of you. You have a daughter that you love falling
:04:20. > :04:24.apart in front of you in the most horrific circumstances. It affects
:04:24. > :04:29.all aspects of your life. There were loads of times I tried
:04:29. > :04:39.overdosing. I cut myself. I did not want to live because of all that
:04:39. > :05:00.
:05:00. > :05:03.happened. In the cases of the victim and parents we spoke to,
:05:03. > :05:06.their horror and suffering are compounded by complete failures by
:05:06. > :05:09.police and social workers to take action. It does appear that social
:05:09. > :05:11.services have said it is a lifestyle choice and that these are
:05:11. > :05:16.child prostitutes. We gathered photos, mobile phone numbers and
:05:16. > :05:19.gave them to the police. We gave them, the evidence, on a plate. I
:05:19. > :05:23.think if I had had help then I would have stopped earlier or not
:05:23. > :05:26.started at all. You think that if the police step in or social
:05:26. > :05:28.services that they will help you, that it would make arrests more
:05:28. > :05:30.likely. But that's not what happened. Some police forces and
:05:30. > :05:33.social service departments have recently dedicated more staff and
:05:33. > :05:36.introduced more training to tackle grooming. But given the failures by
:05:36. > :05:39.authorities right across the North that we've uncovered, it's fair to
:05:39. > :05:42.say that strategies to get gang grooming off our streets are still
:05:42. > :05:44.patchy in England, which is why I've come here to Amsterdam. In
:05:44. > :05:47.terms of initiating an integrated approach, Holland is ten years
:05:47. > :05:56.ahead of Britain. Police and social services began to knit together a
:05:56. > :06:02.national approach a decade ago. organisations have combined their
:06:02. > :06:06.efforts in terms of solving this problem. And in the spirit of this,
:06:06. > :06:08.the mosques of Amsterdam have played their part. I've never
:06:08. > :06:11.flinched from saying my British Pakistani community should confront
:06:11. > :06:21.child sexual exploitation and this man has done the same in Amsterdam,
:06:21. > :06:21.
:06:22. > :06:30.by campaigning against grooming within his Moroccan community.
:06:30. > :06:40.There was a problem in my own neighbourhood of people grooming. I
:06:40. > :06:47.
:06:47. > :06:57.started to make alliances with mosques all over Holland. Here in
:06:57. > :06:57.
:06:57. > :07:01.Holland, you have taken a proactive stance. It is important to take
:07:01. > :07:04.responsibility. I think it is very important as an imam to take
:07:04. > :07:07.responsibility to raise social issues, put them on the agenda and
:07:07. > :07:09.to get rid of the taboos within the Muslim communities. I think that
:07:09. > :07:12.for England and other countries, it's important that younger, new
:07:12. > :07:15.imams develop mosques which are prepared to tackle the issues of
:07:15. > :07:25.modern day society. Young people are looking for mosques that are
:07:25. > :07:34.
:07:34. > :07:40.relevant. We have put forward a lot of anti- propaganda. Back in West
:07:40. > :07:43.Yorkshire, there is a resonance. It's a message I want to take back
:07:43. > :07:46.home. But the reaction of English mosques is in my view complicated
:07:46. > :07:48.by hostility from the far right and the English Defence League which
:07:48. > :07:51.called this demonstration in Keighley following allegations of
:07:51. > :07:54.child grooming. Whilst the English Defence League call for the
:07:54. > :08:04.Pakistani community to stand up and take action, a youth group has been
:08:04. > :08:05.
:08:05. > :08:11.doing just that just a few miles from that demonstration. Only a few
:08:11. > :08:13.weeks ago, they were here on Our doorstep. This is an anti-grooming
:08:14. > :08:23.workshop, attended by members of Keighley's Pakistani community.
:08:24. > :08:35.
:08:35. > :08:41.It's run by volunteers and as far as I know it's completely unique.
:08:41. > :08:48.Imagine how people will perceive this? We have received no support
:08:48. > :08:55.from the government or financial backing. The groomer is isolating
:08:55. > :09:00.the victim. We talk about situations like this. We start with
:09:00. > :09:07.general studies. Schools are taking more precautions in educating young
:09:07. > :09:11.people. It is not often that I am speechless tonight has been an
:09:11. > :09:16.amazing experience. If we can realise this in every part of the
:09:16. > :09:21.country, we can start to a eradicate this evil. This
:09:21. > :09:23.educational video is encouraging victims to speak out and be heard.
:09:23. > :09:30.I still believe that there is an over representation of Pakistani
:09:30. > :09:33.men convicted of child grooming and my community has to confront this.
:09:33. > :09:40.At the same time wider society has to also recognise that 80% of child
:09:40. > :09:42.sexual abuse is carried out by white men. For me the story
:09:42. > :09:52.shouldn't be about comparing the racial identity of abusers but be
:09:52. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:10.about protecting vulnerable young victims. Still to come. We have the
:10:10. > :10:30.
:10:30. > :10:36.story of Sheffield's very own Selling a house can be hard work.
:10:36. > :10:46.But it is not nice to find out that some people can be looking out to
:10:46. > :11:21.
:11:21. > :11:24.make money off your back. But the slump in house prices has created
:11:24. > :11:27.new opportunities for property firms to make a quick buck from
:11:27. > :11:30.desperate home-owners wanting to sell. Whatever your reasons you
:11:30. > :11:32.need to sell your home fast But we've discovered that, instead,
:11:32. > :11:35.Gateway Homes and a sister company are delivering long delays and
:11:35. > :11:38.swingeing last minute price cuts. I feel violated, used, abused,
:11:38. > :11:41.cheated. It made not only myself but my whole family including the
:11:41. > :11:44.grandmother ill. This sounds like an abuse and that is a very good
:11:44. > :11:51.reason to have more regulation and I think they should. Tonight we're
:11:51. > :11:54.shining a light into the workings of one of the North's biggest house
:11:54. > :11:57.buying companies and show you just how they manage to make money out
:11:57. > :11:59.of vulnerable and desperate home owners. Times are good for Nick
:11:59. > :12:02.Statman. He's director of Gateway Homes UK and eight other property
:12:02. > :12:05.companies. On one of his websites he boasts he owns almost 200
:12:05. > :12:08.properties. He's also a keen amateur boxer. From his
:12:08. > :12:10.headquarters in Leeds he runs a network of agents who bring in the
:12:10. > :12:14.customers. Malcolm Haywood wanted to sell his house quickly. What
:12:14. > :12:17.attracted me to Gateway Homes was that they offered a service that
:12:17. > :12:20.was going to be quick. Gateway agreed a price of �120,000. But
:12:20. > :12:23.just before the deal was done Gateway knocked 30% off the price.
:12:23. > :12:26.He refused to sell. I was very angry. Very angry indeed! I thought
:12:26. > :12:30.this would be a quick method of doing a deal. Gateway Homes leave a
:12:30. > :12:33.very nasty taste in the mouth. Every time I open the paper and see
:12:33. > :12:36.their ad it really makes my blood boil. He's not the only one. Pat
:12:36. > :12:41.Hardy from Broughton on Teesside signed the same contract with one
:12:41. > :12:44.of Nick Statman's other companies, Tom Craven Property. The day before
:12:44. > :12:48.the removal men were due to arrive I got a phone call and this
:12:48. > :12:51.gentleman said we have a problem Mrs Hardy. I had agreed to sell the
:12:51. > :12:58.property at �75,000, they offered �40,000. I said no and put the
:12:58. > :13:01.phone down. Yes, you heard right. Tom Craven had slashed its offer
:13:01. > :13:04.almost in half. The next day the price was upped to �50,000 but the
:13:04. > :13:13.deal still collapsed leaving Pat high and dry. They made me feel
:13:13. > :13:20.like I was worthless. What we had worked for for years to put into
:13:20. > :13:26.the property, they were saying it was worth nothing. Pat found
:13:26. > :13:34.another buyer and sold for �75,000. And we've unearthed many other
:13:34. > :13:37.stories just like Pat's. Aggressive price drops and long delays. Can
:13:37. > :13:39.you see how many complaints we received for Gateway Homes? This
:13:39. > :13:42.trading standards office has received 40 complaints, mostly from
:13:42. > :13:45.the North, which it's yet to investigate. Probably the most
:13:45. > :13:48.common complaint we have had is in relation to the actual purchase
:13:48. > :13:50.price. They have agreed a price for the property and then right at the
:13:50. > :13:54.last minute the company has substantially reduced the purchase
:13:54. > :13:58.price and in many cases that has left the vendor in a difficult
:13:58. > :14:01.financial position. I've spoken to a number of people who've told me
:14:01. > :14:07.that Gateway reduced their offer by anything between 16 and more than
:14:07. > :14:17.50%. What's more, we spoke to a member of staff at a company which
:14:17. > :14:40.
:14:40. > :14:46.used to handle legal paper work on So whole process went smoothly.
:14:46. > :14:51.Took a matter of weeks to complete. The gentleman came and led us to
:14:51. > :14:56.believe it would be plain sailing and sorted within weeks. In fact,
:14:56. > :15:01.it was strung out over a long time. Natalie was selling the house for
:15:01. > :15:06.her grandmother. She expected a quick sale. Instead she was forced
:15:06. > :15:09.to wait six months before the deal collapsed. Pastore is just one of
:15:09. > :15:14.the number we came across. The is people are vulnerable on desperate
:15:14. > :15:18.to sell. They want the money and want it now. The longer it goes on,
:15:18. > :15:22.the worse their situation will be. They need the money to pay off
:15:22. > :15:27.creditors. Perhaps they have lost their job, perhaps they are getting
:15:27. > :15:32.divorced, they need it now. Along it goes on, the greater the
:15:32. > :15:36.bargaining position will be in favour of the company. Why did
:15:36. > :15:40.latterly just walk away? She had signed a contract lasting 12 months
:15:40. > :15:45.will stop she believed she had no choice but to sell to Gateway Homes.
:15:45. > :15:50.This is the contract. At the bottom it says this document is binding
:15:50. > :15:56.and should be signed only if you understand the contents. No one
:15:56. > :16:02.would have signed if they had. Oh contract which lasted for seven, 10
:16:02. > :16:09.or 14 days would be reasonable. This sign is the homeowner in four
:16:09. > :16:14.year which should have been a speedy transaction. It is a badly
:16:14. > :16:18.drafted document. Whoever wrote it had no intention of being first. It
:16:18. > :16:22.is entirely in favour of the buyer. It is so badly written it is
:16:22. > :16:27.probably unenforceable. contract allows Gateway Homes to
:16:27. > :16:32.walk away for any reason it likes. Literally, any reason. It does not
:16:32. > :16:36.have to stick to the price it quotes at the top. Is it time for
:16:36. > :16:42.Government intervention? We would like to see legislation brought to
:16:42. > :16:46.bear in this sector of the market. It would provide a point of
:16:46. > :16:50.reference and a code of conduct. Remember this flimsy contract, at
:16:50. > :16:56.the one that gives the company all of the wriggle room. There is one.
:16:56. > :17:01.We have not mentioned. It allows Gateway Homes to market the
:17:01. > :17:06.property to a third party, before it has even bought it. That is what
:17:06. > :17:12.happened to Carol. I lost my business. It seems the easiest
:17:12. > :17:17.solution. After long delays, a price drop and feeling trapped,
:17:17. > :17:21.Carol was shocked to find her house was advertised on the internet for
:17:21. > :17:30.�50,000 more than she was being offered. I was amazed. It is
:17:30. > :17:33.terrible. Seven months of a night nurse. Unbelievable. The carol did
:17:33. > :17:39.eventually sell her house to Gateway Homes, but it was anything
:17:39. > :17:43.other than quick. Nine months of waiting. We want to depart the
:17:43. > :17:53.concerns to Gateway Homes. At the boss declined our invitations for
:17:53. > :17:57.
:17:57. > :18:02.an interview but issued a It says Trading Standards have
:18:02. > :18:06.never investigated Gateway Homes and has no plans to. None of the
:18:06. > :18:10.complaints have been formal complaints. What about the contract
:18:10. > :18:15.and advice given to its sales agents? Gateway Homes says it
:18:15. > :18:19.offers transparency and the initial contract is jargon of free and easy
:18:19. > :18:24.for the customer to understand it without the need for legal advice.
:18:24. > :18:29.It is separate to a formal sale contract. Then there is a last-
:18:29. > :18:32.minute price drops of up to 50%. Gateway Homes says on occasion a
:18:32. > :18:37.revised offer is necessary after a valuation from a surveyor. The
:18:38. > :18:41.customer is free to walk away. Finally, the delays of up to nine
:18:41. > :18:47.months on the promise of quick sales, Gateway Homes says it
:18:47. > :18:50.involves a minority of cases with unforeseeable delays during the
:18:50. > :18:54.conveyancing process. And their services greatly appreciated by
:18:54. > :18:59.many customers. What is the advice to anyone considering selling their
:18:59. > :19:04.house this way? Take independent advice before any talks with the
:19:04. > :19:10.company about a contract to sell a property. I asked, are you sure you
:19:10. > :19:15.have to do this? Have you explored every other avenue? It is a nuclear
:19:15. > :19:20.strategy, once you have sold the house, it has gone. My advice,
:19:20. > :19:29.please don't go near Gateway Homes. These companies do not do what it
:19:29. > :19:34.says on the tin. Sleeping Beauty syndrome only
:19:34. > :19:38.affects about 40 people in the country. One of them is Mitchell
:19:38. > :19:44.Baldwin from Sheffield. And he is sleeping his life a wave. Doctors
:19:44. > :19:49.cannot find a cure. I spent some time with the family to find out
:19:49. > :19:59.how they are coping with family life.
:19:59. > :20:00.
:20:00. > :20:05.He is your typical teenager, full of beans and chips. Then this
:20:05. > :20:12.happens OK, I can hear the groans from all you parents of adolescents.
:20:12. > :20:15.But this is no dose of teenage lazyitis. He's been like this since
:20:15. > :20:24.Monday and it's Thursday. It's the fourth time it's happened since
:20:24. > :20:30.September last year. It's like a coma. When he has been asleep for
:20:30. > :20:34.about five hours. I wake him up and ask him if he wants a drink and he
:20:34. > :20:38.will say yes. Do you want to go to the toilet? It's almost as though
:20:38. > :20:40.Mitchell has regressed to the time when he was a baby. In this state
:20:40. > :20:46.he needs round-the-clock care as he's incapable of looking after
:20:46. > :20:50.himself. It is terrifying when your child is not responding and his
:20:50. > :20:55.unconscious. It is even worse when no one can tell you what is going
:20:55. > :21:04.on. Mitch's first attack happened last year on holiday in Turkey. It
:21:04. > :21:08.was a terrifying experience for the whole family. He slept all the way
:21:08. > :21:12.home on a coach and on the aeroplane. We were waiting to get
:21:12. > :21:15.on the plane and he laid down and went to sleep on the chairs. Back
:21:15. > :21:20.home in Sheffield he was rushed to hospital. Despite extensive medical
:21:20. > :21:23.tests, doctors weren't sure what Mitch's problem was. Until finally,
:21:23. > :21:31.he was diagnosed with Kleine Levin syndrome after his third attack and
:21:31. > :21:37.months of anxiety. It is an extremely rare condition and nobody
:21:37. > :21:41.knows the cause of it. It is a condition in which people have
:21:41. > :21:46.recurrence episodes of profound sleep. From anywhere between a
:21:46. > :21:52.couple of days and the far end is about 80 days. They started
:21:52. > :21:58.gradually wake up. As they wake up they have behavioural changes. They
:21:58. > :22:02.become dis inhibited. They often eat excessively and then gradually
:22:02. > :22:06.recover and return to normal between attacks. Eventually these
:22:06. > :22:10.episodes will remit. On average we say it takes up to about eight
:22:10. > :22:13.years before they completely go away. But right now that's cold
:22:13. > :22:23.comfort for Mitch and his family. In his waking moments between bouts
:22:23. > :22:28.
:22:28. > :22:33.of deep sleep he can be confused and emotional. Come on. You are OK.
:22:33. > :22:37.We are here for you. No one likes it, Mitchell. Mitch's dad Wayne
:22:37. > :22:45.arrives back from work to take over his son's care. But it's a quick
:22:45. > :22:51.change around as it's Nicola's turn to go out to work. I will see you
:22:51. > :22:56.later. Mitch has to come too as he can't be left home alone. I will
:22:56. > :23:01.see you later, are you coming to pick me up at 7pm. He won't
:23:01. > :23:06.remember anything about this journey. We tried to carry on as
:23:06. > :23:12.normal as we can. Even a little bit of fresh air might help him. We
:23:12. > :23:17.feel helpless, we don't know when he is going to wake up. I am upset
:23:17. > :23:25.he will miss a lot of his life. He should be out playing football with
:23:25. > :23:32.his mates are now. We are home now. We cannot do anything, other than
:23:32. > :23:37.just be here for him. A lot of the Times this is all I ever do. I am
:23:37. > :23:41.here in case he opens his eyes. I don't like to be too far away from
:23:42. > :23:51.him just in case I am not around, or his mum is not around, he gets
:23:52. > :23:55.
:23:55. > :24:02.upset. He probably won't wake up The next day and Mitch is still
:24:02. > :24:06.asleep. And his Dad's bedside vigil continues. We leave the curtains
:24:06. > :24:09.open in the day so if he does wake up he knows it's day time. It's
:24:09. > :24:17.Saturday morning and Mitchell usually bounds out of bed to enjoy
:24:17. > :24:21.the weekend. We would have been going out as a family if the
:24:21. > :24:27.weather was fine. Going to the park, but we have to keep looking after
:24:27. > :24:31.him the best we can. This syndrome is puzzling. You get a little bit
:24:31. > :24:36.of hope, and then it snatches it back off You Again and he goes back
:24:36. > :24:39.into this. So another wasted weekend for the Baldwins as they
:24:39. > :24:42.wait for him to emerge for his slumber. Three days later and Mitch
:24:42. > :24:49.looks like he's beginning to emerge from his sleep. He's sufficiently
:24:49. > :24:58.roused to come downstairs and join his dad in the land of the living.
:24:58. > :25:05.You get the first signs, and then it starts her. Sleeping for about
:25:05. > :25:15.12 days. And then the rest of it is confusion. But the next moment
:25:15. > :25:16.
:25:16. > :25:25.Mitch has gone again. Lights out. And then he starts singing.
:25:25. > :25:34.Football chants, pop songs. Are you doing requests Mitch? And his
:25:35. > :25:39.behaviour becomes less inhibited, I think is the term. I know it won't
:25:39. > :25:44.harm him in any way. That is the most assuring thing for me and his
:25:44. > :25:49.mum. But while he is asleep like this, I think it is arming him
:25:49. > :25:55.because he is missing school, missing work experience. -- harming
:25:55. > :25:58.him. This last episode came on just as Mitch was on a work experience
:25:58. > :26:08.placement at a phone shop. He was unable to complete it. He's still
:26:08. > :26:08.
:26:08. > :26:12.not better but he wanted to go back today to thank them. Hello, Mitch.
:26:13. > :26:15.What is this? It's is a card for you. The effort of delivering the
:26:15. > :26:21.card seems to have taken its toll. And Mitch is feeling decidedly
:26:21. > :26:27.sleepy again. Fangs, Mitchell. You'll have to come back down when
:26:27. > :26:30.you are less tired. Back home and it's back to horizontal for Mitch.
:26:31. > :26:39.Finally three weeks after it started, Mitch is back with us. But
:26:39. > :26:49.sadly it's raining outside and he's missed all the nice weather. I feel
:26:49. > :26:53.a lot better today. I only came out a bit and got 100% better. It is
:26:53. > :26:58.like life is passing me by without me experiencing it. I do not like
:26:58. > :27:02.it. I am always thinking when the next one will happen. But those
:27:02. > :27:06.concerns aren't on his mind today. More pressing is dealing with a
:27:06. > :27:11.fear of heights as Mitchell enjoys a special day out with his mates.
:27:11. > :27:18.He's celebrating his 15th birthday. Are you tired? I am all right.
:27:18. > :27:22.is not tired today. I think about it before I got my illness four
:27:22. > :27:27.star RPE is missing for a couple of weeks, and then he is the missing
:27:27. > :27:29.and back again. It is not fair on him. He is missing exams.
:27:29. > :27:38.summer holidays are over and Mitchell is looking forward to
:27:38. > :27:44.starting a new school year. First day back today at school. I missed
:27:44. > :27:48.last term. I am in school for maybe a week. It is like going somewhere
:27:48. > :27:53.where you used to be and you have not been there for ages. It is
:27:53. > :27:56.strange going back. One does the future hold? Nobody knows of any
:27:56. > :28:01.effective treatment for the conditions. Nobody knows of
:28:01. > :28:05.anything that will prevent the attacks. He has missed over three
:28:05. > :28:09.months of this year. If you are saying to somebody, I am sorry but
:28:09. > :28:16.I might be out of work for a long time because of my illness, how is
:28:16. > :28:20.the boss of a company going to look at that?
:28:21. > :28:24.That's almost it, but before we go, if you watched last week he will
:28:24. > :28:27.remember the story of an incinerator plant for North
:28:27. > :28:32.Yorkshire. It was approved, but campaigners say they will keep
:28:32. > :28:35.fighting and it might still end with a public inquiry. If you have
:28:35. > :28:42.a story you would like us to tell or you would like to Leader comment,