RECENTLY, social media platform X witnessed an intensed debate on the alleged grooming gangs scandal in the UK, with British MPs and social celebs like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, British author JK Rowling sharing their views on the issue. Musk criticised the UK’s handling of such crimes, directly calling out former CPS head and current Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In a post on X, Musk wrote, “In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects. Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008 -2013.” In another post, he wrote, “Free Tommy Robinson!” Robinson is a British journalist who had released a documentary on the alleged grooming gangs and alleged rapes of young women. Robinson who is in jail was represented by his team on X that once again raised the subject of alleged rapes in the UK. “Nicole’s story.

 

Nicole was raped and pimped at the age of 11 by members of a grooming gang in Telford, one of many, many cases in that area. A man is languishing in solitary confinement in a high security prison because he dared to speak out and tell the truth about this scourge - the industrialised rape, pimping, and molestation of little girls by depraved adult men. That man is Tommy Robinson,” a post on X from Robinson’s handle said. Meanwhile, author J K Rowling also condemned the crimes and questioned potential police corruption, describing the revelations as “almost beyond belief,” citing an article of ‘Telegraph’ by journalist Sam Ashworth-Hayes. Rowling wrote on X, “The details emerging about what the rape gangs (why call them ‘grooming’ gangs? It’s like calling those who stab people to death ‘knife owners’) did to girls in Rotherham are downright horrific.

 

The allegations of possible police corruption in the case are almost beyond belief.” Former UK PM Liz Truss also wrote on X about the alleged grooming scandal. She said, “These appalling rape gang cases of girls as young as 11 shame our country. Not only do the perpetrators need to be punished. So do the authorities who turned a blind eye in the name of not inflaming racial tensions.” She added, “The horrific failings on rape gangs show the complete lack of accountability in British criminal justice. The proper role of Lord Chancellor needs to be restored (to its pre-2005 state), and the judiciary should be accountable to them.” The alleged Rotherham scandal happened between 1997 and 2013. On September 13, 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service said that seven men were jailed for committing child sex abuse offences against two young girls in Rotherham during the 2000s. Operation Stovewood was a major investigation into child sexual abuse and exploitation which took place in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, between 1997 and 2013.