Rotherham Grooming Gang: Lost Evidence, Unanswered Questions

0:00On March 28, a grooming gang survivor from Rotherham says victims have lost their shot at justice because key evidence might have been destroyed. The home office admitted it waited seven months after a government audit to ask police, councils, and others to preserve records on child exploitation. Cases. That audit last June stressed keeping those files, many from crimes between 2010 and 2020. The local rules often let agencies trash documents after six years, and freedom of information requests from a member of parliament exposed the slow response. The survivor, rape repeatedly starting at age 14 by numerous men, calls this another cover-up by authorities. She quit the National Inquiries Survivor Panel last October with three others, doubting the full story will ever surface amid fears of racial tensions. Now, a top lawmaker has written to the home secretary demanding details on any destroyed files and possible consequences. The independent inquiry launches next week under Baroness Ann Longfield with powers to

1:03force witnesses and review old probes. As scrutiny builds, survivors push for accountability, but lost records could hobble legal fights and leave painful questions unanswered for good.