Police have apologised for failing the victims of the Rochdale child sex abuse scandal, but said that no officers will face any misconduct proceedings.
A review by Greater Manchester Police's professional standards branch, supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), highlighted failures "at individual and force level" into its dealings with victims from 2008 to 2010.
Nine men, eight of Pakistani origin and one from Afghanistan, were jailed for a total of more than 80 years in 2012 for crimes including rape, trafficking and child sex abuse. The group was said to have plied victims with drink and drugs and "passed them around" for sex.
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The actions of 13 police officers from the Rochdale division were investigated over their handling of the case and seven were served misconduct notices. After they were formally interviewed, six were "spoken to" and their performance issues were "individually addressed", said the force. One officer failed to serve an abduction notice on one member of the gang. Another was criticised for yawning while interviewing one of the victims about her allegations.
Only one detective inspector was said to have a "case to answer". However, he has since retired at the end of his 30 years' service, so no action can be taken. He had been in a supervisory role when one of the victims at the heart of the 2012 trial made the first allegations in 2008.
She has told The Guardian she is "fuming" after reading the report. "It's taken them four years and it reads like a whitewash. These policemen have done wrong and yet none of them has been named and the one they wanted to discipline has been able to retire. It just seems very, very convenient," she said.
Assistant Chief Constable Dawn Copley acknowledged that "mistakes were made and victims were let down".
She laid some blame on the "strong target-driven focus" on other areas of crime at the force between 2008 and 2010. "We apologise to the victims and we give them our assurance that lessons have been learned, changes have been made and we are determined to use this to continue making improvements," she said.
