Rochdale grooming gang victims failed by GMP receive apology and 'substantial' payout

Three women who were sexually abused by Rochdale grooming gangs have received a "substantial" payout from GMP after the Chief Constable admitted and apologised for "failures" made by the force.

Stephen Watson met the victims at GMP's headquarters in north Manchester on Tuesday afternoon (April 12) where he gave an in-person apology for the police failings in their cases, PA new agency reports. The top officer acknowledged the force's failure to protect the women, who were children when they were repeatedly raped and sexually abused by gangs of men in Rochdale.

Mr Watson also apologised for his predecessors' errors in not investigating the abusers, a culture which happened under the previous Chief constables, including Sir Peter Fahy.

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He told the women: "It is a matter of profound personal regret that your childhood was so cruelly impacted by the dreadful experiences which you endured. GMP could and should have done much more to protect you and we let you down."

One of the three women was depicted as the character Ruby in the award-winning BBC dramatisation of the Rochdale grooming scandal - Three Girls.

In legal documents, Ruby, who is identified as BXW, states the abuse began aged 12 and continued for four years where she was passed "like a ball" between "thousands" of men for rape and sexual abuse.

She was impregnated by one man, Adil Khan, when she was aged 13 and had an abortion. Police seized the foetus as evidence, but she was not notified – and nor was her mother or any responsible adult.

The second woman, Amber, also depicted in the BBC drama in 2017, was aged 14 when the abuse began, according to her legal claim. She was