"We must always believe reports of sex abuse"

Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Helen Newlove visited Rotherham and hit back at calls for the police to be more suspicious of abuse allegations after a collapsed investigation into public figures.

She was speaking at the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Victims Showcase Event at the New York Stadium on December 9.

Baroness Newlove told representatives from the police, courts, government and victim support groups: “Trust and confidence will be broken down.

“We cannot go back to a position where victims feel they will not be believed.”

Baroness Newlove told delegates the legal system had improved the way it dealt with crime victims and the police in particular had made “great strides in changing the way they deal with victims and survivors of sexual abuse”.

She added: “During my travels across the country I have seen examples of how victims are treated as individuals.

“This individually-focussed approach seems to help victims.”

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings said it had been vital for the force to become more focussed on the needs of victims in order to investigate CSE.

The impact of the Jay Report of 2014 was still being felt, he said.

“That report felt like a thunderbolt not just here but across the country and we realised it was not just a local problem but a national problem and an international problem,” he said.

“Even now, two or so years after the revelations that so many girls were sexually abused over such a long period and so many people in positions of authority had failed to do anything about it, it seems scarcely believable. 

“We have been able to make progress here because we have realised we need to listen to victims.”

South Yorkshire’s Assistant Chief Constable, Rachel Barber, said the force had developed a Victim Code of Practice which officers had been trained in.

Det Sgt Steve Smith said police had worked alongside other organisations during the CSE investigation Operation Clover.

He said: “The most important member of the team is the victim, the survivor. We could not take them on a journey, they had to come with us.”

His Honour Judge Julian Goose QC, honorary recorder of Sheffield, noted changes to the criminal justice system which meant victims could now give evidence without actually appearing in court, thanks to the use of video links and pre-recorded evidence.

Linda Mayhew, business manager for the South Yorkshire Criminal Justice Board, highlighted the various forms of restorative justice available where victims could confront offenders.

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion said the government needed to provide more funding to help support victims.

She said: “If there was an earthquake in Rotherham and 1,400 people were affected, the PM would be up here in a helicopter.”

The MP added that there had been “a seismic shift in the way victims and survivors have been dealt with” since Dr Billings took over as commissioner.