By Tony O’Riley-
A former senior West Yorkshire Police officer is under investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) over claims he failed to investigate the grooming of young girls in Bradford.
John Piekos, an ex-detective with Greater Manchester Police, has accused the officer of dismissing his reports of child sexual exploitation at a children’s home in the city over fears it would stir up racial tensions. The revelation is shocking and sharply questions the professional competence of the senior officer in question.
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The allegation is serious, particularly in light of earlier claims in the summer that five female victims who were exploited by grooming gangs in Rotherham as children were also abused by police officers in the town during the same period. One of the girls claimed to have been raped from the age of 12 by a serving officer from the same South Yorkshire Police (SYP) force in a marked police car.
Calls for a national inquiry are already being sounded in Bradford- a town notorious for child grooming by gangs.
Mr Piekos, who was working for an anti-trafficking charity in 2010, said he collated evidence that gangs of largely South Asian men were targeting vulnerable teenagers in Bradford.
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“After we surveilled this children’s home for three months and saw the exploitation that was taking place, we took part in a meeting with a number of charities,” he said.
“After I showed them our evidence, one representative said ‘well everyone knows that’s what happens in children’s homes. It goes on up and down the country’.
“I was absolutely stunned because that’s an admission that demanded some kind of challenge.”
Mr Piekos says he took his evidence to a West Yorkshire officer he had previously dealt with, but was shocked by the response.
“[He] said to me ‘don’t you see how much effort we’ve put in to build racial harmony in this city and the problems we’ve gone through? And your actions are likely to cause it all to burn to the ground’.
“I said ‘this is about child sexual abuse not about racial tension’.”
He claims he was told to “go away and leave us alone”.
Mr Philp has urged the NCA to launch a misconduct investigation.
He said: “I believe there are clear grounds for the National Crime Agency – who have been tasked with leading a nationwide policing operation into these child rape gangs – to investigate further.
“I have provided the NCA with the name of the former senior police officer and full details of John Piekos’s account.
“This also shows exactly why a national statutory inquiry into the cover up is needed. Yet three months since the Government’s forced u-turn no progress has been made. This is just not good enough.”
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “We are aware of a letter sent from Mr Chris Philp MP to the National Crime Agency.
“However no formal report has yet been made to us directly, and we would encourage Mr Philp to contact us regarding this matter.”
The NCA added: “We can confirm the director general has received a letter and will respond to Mr Philp in due course.”
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