‘We want justice’: Woman gang raped in Oldham aged 12 demands grooming inquiry but tells far-right to stay out
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Samantha Walker-Roberts, 31, wants Keir Starmer to ‘do right for survivors’ but warns ‘we don’t want Tommy Robinson involved’. A woman who was raped in Oldham aged 12 has implored Keir Starmer to launch a government inquiry into child sexual abuse in the town - but hit out at the far-right for hijacking the cause.
![[Shakil Chowdhury was jailed for six years for the brutal attack but released on licence after three]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/08/15/Shakil-Chowdhury-Grooming-Gang-Ringleader-Rapist.jpg)
Samantha Walker-Roberts, who has bravely waived her right to anonymity, was gang raped in a house in Chadderton, in England’s north-west, in 2006. Shakil Chowdhury was jailed for six years for the brutal attack but released on licence after three. Three other attackers were never caught.
![[Elon Musk launched a series of attacks on Keir Starmer on his social media site X]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/08/13/1334eea83222642536ebd9a553a5a1b8Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2NDI2ODk0-2.74429039.jpg)
The survivor, now 31, has called for the prime minister to launch a government review into the scandal after Home Office minister Jess Phillips declined a request for a nationally-led inquiry into abuse in Oldham, Greater Manchester, in favour of a locally-led review.
![[Professor Alexis Jay, who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, has said ‘the time has passed’ for more inquiries]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/07/09/PA-20744398.jpg)
“We want justice and we want our voices to be heard so they need to now start taking that on and listening to what we want, which is a government inquiry in Oldham,” Ms Walker-Roberts told The Independent. The government’s refusal sparked a furore as billionaire Elon Musk launched a series of attacks on his social media site X, calling Ms Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and accusing Sir Keir of “hiding terrible things”.
The Tories have piled pressure on the government by joining Mr Musk’s calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs across the country, tabling an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. On Wednesday, ahead of a vote on the amendment, Downing Street indicated the prime minister was open to a U-turn for the first time.
