‘She says she’s over age – enjoy your night, lads’: What one police officer told grooming gang as he returned 16-year-old girl to them

Fiona Goddard says police returned her to men who had raped and abused her after she mistakenly told officers she was 18, despite her being recorded as an under-age child sexual exploitation victim. The account highlights how failures by authorities compounded the abuse she experienced as a teenager and raises questions about police handling of grooming cases.

Goddard was groomed from age 14 after leaving a children’s home in Bradford in 2008, and says the abuse continued across several towns and cities. Nine gang members were jailed in 2019 for more than 130 years after a prosecution she said she had to fight for; researchers’ database has identified at least 60 officers linked to the case or its handling, alongside more than 1,000 alleged perpetrators across its broader map.