CSE report ‘protected senior police officers’, say whistleblowers

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

One of the most shocking stories in South Yorkshire’s history is back in the news. The Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal has been estimated to have involved 1,400 girls in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. It’s been brought to the fore again as Elon Musk has been prolifically tweeting about the issue. While some of the ensuing social media frenzy has been opportunistic, there are still many unanswered questions about the scandal. On Saturday, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard demanded that the Independent Office of Police Conduct let him see a report into the conduct of senior South Yorkshire Police officers during the Rotherham CSE scandal, something that they have always refused to do. Is this evidence of a cover-up? That’s our big story today.

As well as that, we have some very upsetting news about a person Dan wrote a story about in 2023, another pub-based debate event, and a cheapish house in Sharrow Vale.

Catch up

For our weekend read, novelist Rachel Genn looked back on her childhood in 1970s Sheffield, during which she developed an entrenched fear of skinheads. “I loved this piece,” wrote member Liz Wade, “finding it very powerful and evocative of aspects of life in Sheffield at that time.” You can read that piece here.

Earlier in the week, our paying subscribers received an extra two editions of The Tribune. In the first, David Bocking kicked off a fierce debate over e-bikes: are they the scourge of our streets or the only realistic way to cycle in this hilly city? And, in the second, Victoria looked into the death of an XL Bully in Hillsborough, which has seen its devastated owner launch a one-woman campaign against South Yorkshire Police. An excerpt from that piece is below.

While a postwoman — who has not given an official statement to police — allegedly told Sophie she saw him being happily fussed over, the officers clearly feared the worst, shouting at those present to move away. Sophie claims the footage shows one of the officers summoned Ghost towards him — “he said ‘here, here’ like a puppy call” — and, within seconds, he fired the first shot. “Ghost simply turned round,” she claims. “They didn’t give him a chance.”

Editor’s note: Are you an avid user of Sheffield Forum, an online messageboard devoted to this city that has been active for over 20 years? If so, we’d love to speak to you for a story we’re working on. Get in touch by emailing victoria@sheffieldtribune.co.uk.

The big picture: A tribute to Keeley 💐

The tragic death of 34-year-old Sheffield woman Keeley Thornton has been widely reported in the last week. Over the last few years, thousands of videos of Keeley, who was a highly vulnerable alcoholic, were shared on the social network TikTok, with some of them amassing millions of views. Dan spoke to Keeley in 2023 about her life and how she “felt obliged” to keep making the videos for people. She had since been trying to get sober, but had returned to the streets in recent months. After news broke last Tuesday that she had died, Tim Renshaw from the Archer Project wrote that she had been “exploited for likes”. A 47-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of administering a noxious substance.

The big story: CSE report ‘protected senior police officers’, say whistleblowers

Top line: South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has demanded to see a report produced by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into the actions of senior South Yorkshire Police officers during the Rotherham grooming gang scandal. His demand comes after a Channel 4 News report in which two former IOPC staff said the investigation was seriously flawed and they were discouraged from looking into the actions of senior officers.

Background: Ever since the Jay report concluded in 2014 that failures by South Yorkshire Police contributed to the sexual abuse of 1,400 girls in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, efforts have been made to find out what went wrong. Set up a decade ago, Operation Linden cost £6 million and reported in 2022. After Hillsborough, it was the second largest investigation that the IOPC or its predecessor the IPCC had ever carried out.

• The IOPC carried out 91 investigations into police failings covering 265 separate allegations made by 51 complainants. 47 officers were investigated, with the IOPC concluding eight had a case to answer for misconduct and six for gross misconduct.
• However, no officers lost their job as a result of the investigation and the most severe sanction was a written warning. In 2022, Mr Coppard’s predecessor as Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings said that in failing to “identify any individual accountability”, the report had “let down victims and survivors”.

Latest allegations: Last week, two whistleblowers involved in Operation Linden spoke to Channel 4 News. They allege that IOPC investigators were specifically told not to probe senior officers’ involvement in the failings and that the inquiry “barely scratched the surface”.

• Garry Harper, who spent two years working as part of the major investigations team on Operation Linden, said he was told by a supervisor that he should concentrate on the person central to the investigation, an officer with just six months’ experience as a detective, and not look at senior officers.
• Chris Owen, who was working as a contractor within the major investigations team at the IOPC during 2018 and 2019, described the IOPC as a “failed organisation”. He said the investigation lacked leadership, direction and management, and added that exhibits and documents had been lost.

Operation Amazon: Another strand of Operation Linden looked specifically into allegations made by Rotherham CSE campaigner Jayne Senior and former South Yorkshire Police staff member Dr Angie Heal that senior SYP officers had failed in their statutory duties to protect vulnerable children. That investigation, Operation Amazon, upheld their complaint, but the report has never been made public, and Senior and Heal believe it has been deliberately “buried”. It is this report that Oliver Coppard is demanding to be given sight of. Speaking to Channel 4 News on Saturday, Mr Coppard said: 

“What I ultimately want is to see the report so I can decide for myself whether that investigation was done properly and effectively and that people in South Yorkshire can have confidence in that work. I have asked them for it and my predecessor asked them for it. They said no to him but I’m hoping they have had a change of heart.”

When Channel 4 News’ Alex Thompson suggested that as the person with responsibility for overseeing the police in South Yorkshire, he should be able to demand to be able to see the report, Mr Coppard replied: “Well, you would think so, wouldn’t you?”

IOPC response: In their response to Channel 4 News, the IOPC strongly refuted the allegations. They said there had been a dedicated investigation team within Operation Linden which was focused solely on senior police officers, and that had they found any indication of corruption, it would have been “rigorously pursued”. 

Our take: It seems astonishing that South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, who was given the powers of the Police and Crime Commissioner in May, has not been allowed to see this report. So much of this scandal has been exacerbated by perceptions that the authorities want to cover up what happened. To avoid further suspicion, the IOPC should hand it over.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🐸 When Dr Silviu Petrovan, from the University of Cambridge’s zoology department, was asked to identify a frog found by a Sheffield florist, he originally assumed he was being pranked. But this was no joke — the exotic interloper had accidentally snuck into the country in a shipment of roses all the way from Colombia. It inspired him to study how many invasive species were being introduced through the UK’s horticultural trade and what should be done to stop pests and diseases arriving here. The answer was not to push for “kneejerk reactions,” he told the Guardian, but instead to make “the industry more sustainable through things like certifications and better regulation”. 

⚽ Last week, a judge refused to ban Sheffield Wednesday fan David Spencer, 56, from attending games, on top of the £1,375 fine he already received last year for racially aggravated abuse. During a match against Hull City, the court heard Spencer repeatedly used a slur for Pakistani people against a teenage fan of the rival team, although Judge Mark Bury dismissed this as “no more than banter”. In an opinion piece in The Times, Matthew Syed insisted the club should ban Spencer anyway, or risk returning to the “bad old days when racist abuse was endemic in football”. The club had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.

🪙A socialite-turned-gold-dealer, who snapped up a metal refinery in Sheffield, insisted in court that he had no idea he was “entering into a criminal agreement” when he embarked on his new career. James Stunt, 42, is one of five men accused of taking part in a money laundering scheme that helped criminals turn cash into untraceable gold, although all five deny the charges. The court heard that Stunt was introduced to two of his co-defendants — Bradford gold dealers Daniel Rawson and Greg Frankel — by a contact at the Sheffield Assay Office, who claimed they were a “very respectable” supplier of scrap gold. 

The weekly Whitworth ✏️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on the news that Sheffield pub chain True North has acquired yet another new venue in the city, the Grade II-listed Abbeydale Picture House.

This week’s weather 🌥️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say the week will be largely cloudy and cold, though trending milder and more unsettled by the end of the week.

Monday ☁☔ Cloudy and cold through the day with light winds and patchy light rain and drizzle setting in during the afternoon. Highs of 6°C.

Tuesday ☁☔ Little change with further bouts of drizzle hidden within low cloud and murk. A poor day and still feeling cold with highs of 7°C.

Wednesday ☁ Early drizzle expected to clear; a chance of brightness later which could then lead to a frost overnight. Light winds and highs of 6°C.

Thursday 🌦 Early frost and brightness gives way to rain from the west. Breezy southwest winds and highs of 7°C.

Friday 🌧 Windy from the southwest with outbreaks of rain likely to sweep from west to east during the day. Milder with highs of 10°C.

Outlook: A windy and changeable weekend is favoured with bright spells but also showery outbreaks of rain, too. Temperatures close to average.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Home of the week 🏡

The desirability of Sharrow Vale has had the inevitable effect: someone has cut a normal home in half and is trying to sell the right-hand side. But, hey, an asking price of £200,000 for a “deceptively spacious” four-bedroom home isn’t bad and you also get a dining room, living room and a small garden to boot. Find out more on Rightmove here. 

Coming up

This week, we’ll be sending out two more newsletters to over 2,500 members. For the first, Dan has been brushing up on the history of the beautiful game, as he prepares to watch the oldest rivals in football hash it out on the pitch in the Rules Derby. This week is a double-dose of Dan — after that, he’ll be publishing his piece on the future of Fargate, as the council’s regeneration nears its long-awaited conclusion. Can Sheffield’s once-premium street get its mojo back? To get all that in your inbox, just click below.

Tribune tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please get in touch with us by emailing editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are happy to speak to people off the record, and we guarantee we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Debate 🗣️ Sheffield Skeptics in the Pub is a monthly meeting where people hear from experts and discuss with them important issues that affect us all. On Monday evening at Farm Road Social Club, Knut Roder from Sheffield Institute of Social Science at Hallam University will be talking about the impact Donald Trump’s second term could have on the European Union. There is no entrance fee, but a £3 donation to cover costs is welcomed.

Music 🎶 On Wednesday at the Crucible Playhouse, Music in the Round and Ensemble 360 will perform a concert of playful music for wind quintet full of “melodious twittering and jaunty dance tunes”. Wind staple Nielsen’s Quintet will transport you to an English meadow, while Sally Beamish’s The Naming of Birds takes you to the Danish countryside, and Barber’s Summer Music evokes a sultry New York summer. Tickets are priced £5-£22 and doors open at 7pm.

Art 🖼️ The latest redisplay of the Ruskin Collection, Sheffield’s celebration of the Victorian artist and writer John Ruskin and his ideas, is now open at the Millennium Gallery. The latest display explores the idea of colour through over 50 examples of beautifully crafted drawings, watercolours, manuscripts, textiles, decorative metalwork and more. The exhibition is totally free to attend and the gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am–5pm and Sunday 11am-4pm.