The verdicts have been delivered in the Operation Bullfinch trial. Seven of the nine men have been found ‘guilty’. The case involved the highly organised sexual and physical abuse of underage girls in the ‘care’ system. This was carried out by a gang of men in Oxfordshire over the course of nearly a decade.
As I wrote of one of the most shocking aspects of the case:
‘One of the victims sold into slavery was a girl of 11. She was branded with the initial of her “owner” abuser: “M” for Mohammed. The court heard that Mohammed “branded her to make her his property and to ensure others knew about it”.’
There is bound to be considerable debate now around this case. For the moment I think the Ramadhan Foundation has got it right by pointing out the important fact that:
‘80% of child sexual abuse is carried out by white men but on the phenomenon of on street grooming there is an over representation of Asian men and white victims.’
As with the Tia Sharp murder case Rod wrote about here, debate will now divide between those who think some societal lessons can be taken from this and those who say that it is of no wider significance.
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