Whistleblowers silenced for trying to expose Britain’s worst ever child sex abuse scandal

More about Telford from todays Mirror

Two whistleblowers were punished for trying to expose Britain’s worst child abuse scandal which affected up to 1,000 girls for 40 years, the Mirror can reveal today.

A Labour MP last night joined calls for a public inquiry after girls as young as 11 were lured from families to be drugged, beaten and raped in an epidemic that, say victims, continues today.

A council-commissioned report told how social workers knew of the child sex crimes in the late 90s. And in 2016, whislteblowing police chaplain Keith Osmund-Smith was suspended after passing papers to the Mirror.

We asked police what was done about allegations of abuse in the 150-page report and they said they had not been ­properly logged.

A second whistleblower employed by Axis Counselling – a charity helping sex abuse victims – was forced to leave her post after speaking out. 

Notes of her disciplinary meeting show officials admitted she had done nothing wrong but feared funding from authorities would be cut if she kept expressing views about the lack of action over the scandal by the council and police. The majority of Axis Counselling’s funding comes from West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner, John Campion – a vocal critic of an MP and the Sunday Mirror’s push for a Rotherham-style inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford. In September 2016, Tory MP for Telford, Lucy Allan, called for an inquiry after an abuse victim told her that many of the worst offenders had not been ­prosecuted and still lived in the area.

The same month, Tory Campion and nine others on the Labour-run council wrote to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, saying the inquiry was not necessary.

Freedom of Information Act papers revealed two predatory paedophiles had begun targeting girls from a local children’s home in 1981.

Today we can also reveal officers were allegedly told as early as 1996 about one of the key players who is said to have made thousands grooming girls and selling them for sex. One victim gave so much evidence to police in 2010 that officers launched a probe, called Operation Thesis, around her evidence. But this led to no prosecutions.

Whistleblower Chaplain Osmund-Smith has returned to work. Police said: “An internal ­investigation was carried out and made a number of recommendations which we have worked with him to address.”

The second whistleblower won an out-of-court settlement on a no fault basis. Axis Counselling declined to comment. Since 2014, Campion and predecessor Bill Longmore have given Axis Counselling nearly £1million in grants. Campion denied knowledge of the woman’s situation.

It gets worse. Read it all Left Ahdel Ali, 27, one of the few men tried and convicted so far. He received a sentence of 18 years imprisonment in 2012. His brother Mubarek Ali went down ostensibly for 22 years, but he was released after only 5 years served.