Most grooming gang offences carried out by white men, police chiefs say
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The vast majority of grooming gang offences are carried out by white men, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has said. New figures from the police database show that, where ethnicity data was available, 85% of “group-based” child abusers were white in the first three quarters of 2024.
The same data for the whole of 2023 showed 83% of offenders were white. Richard Fewkes, the director of the NPCC’s Hydrant programme targeting child sexual abuse, said there is no “significant issue” with “any particular ethnicity or setting”.
Mr Fewkes’ comments come after tech entrepreneur Elon Musk used his social media platform X to wage an online campaign against the government over the issue of grooming gangs. The billionaire has accused the Prime Minister of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” over his record as a former director of public prosecutions, and called safeguarding minister Jess Phillips a “witch” and a “rape genocide apologist”.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, Mr Fewkes said: “(The data) reflects what you would expect to see across the country in terms of ethnicity. “Offences where grooming gangs are involved are predominantly white. “There is not a significant issue here with any particular ethnicity or setting.”.
