Keighley sex gang: Asian rapists, white victims and biased reporting
How do you report on the 12 rapists who attacked a 13-year-old girl? The Daily Star puts the news on its front page: “Sex gang gets 143 years’ jail,” runs the headline. The story beings: “12 members of an Asian gang…” Before the names and location, we are told the gang is Asian.
The story continues: “They laughed and waved at friends in the court’s public gallery as they caged for repeatedly raping their white victim.”
Race plays a leading role in the Star’s story – the Star that once supported the EDL.
On page 9, the men are “sex monsters” stood in the dock at Bradford Crown Court. One who was not in court is named as Arif Choudhury, 20, who has “fled to Bangladesh”. He, says the Star, “arranged for the girl to be raped” when she refused to carry drugs for him.
Elsewhere Choudhury is called Arif Chowdhury.
Yorkshire Evening Post: “Keighley grooming case: ‘Arrogant’ Asian gang of 12 jailed for 130 years”
AN ARROGANT gang of 12 men in a West Yorkshire town have been jailed for a total of 130 years for the repeated rape and sexual abuse of a vulnerable schoolgirl they saw as “utterly worthless”.
Eleven were jailed for rape and a twelfth man was jailed for sexual activity with a child under 16. Their white British victim was aged 13 and 14 when she was repeatedly raped and sexually abused and passed around by the Asian men.
Asian men. But not Chinese, Thai or Cambodian men.
The Sun (Pages 8 and 9): “143 Years for rape gang ignored by cops.”
A GANG of Asian paedophiles who beat and raped a white girl of 13 was jailed yesterday for a total of 143 years. The terrified victim was repeatedly abused at various locations for over a year — despite being reported missing to cops 71 times. They ignored her family’s desperate pleas for help and instead told her anxious mum to keep a diary of her movements.
Criminality thrives when it goes unchecked. A ‘gang’ forms because one criminal gets away with it and tells an associate he can trust. The men did not join any rape gang because they were Asian – they joined in because they were criminally minded bastards who knew each other.
David Hines, of the National Victims’ Association, likened it to incidents in Rochdale and Rotherham — where up to 1,400 girls were abused by Asian paedos. He claimed: “I’m sure police heard the alarm bells. They just decided to ignore the noise.”
The first mention of the victim being white appears in paragraph 8:
Tory MP Kris Hopkins, who represents Keighley, said: “I’m well aware there are numerous white paedophiles and they should be dealt with just as harshly.”
Well, yes. But..
“But the sick model of organised groups of Asian men grooming young white girls to be sexually abused remains a blight at the heart of many communities across this country. And sadly Keighley is at the top of the list.”
Why? Who knew? Who ignored the victims?
In these cases it’s useful to ask some questions: what if the victim had been an aristocrat? What if she had been from a rich family? Would the police have told her parents to keep a diary of her movements had she been from an upper-class home? What if she was not from an impoverished background? What if her dad knew the chief inspector?
The Sun then quotes a local man with an opinion:
A COUNCILLOR sparked outrage yesterday after he appeared to dismiss the Keighley sex scandal – and claimed: “It takes two to tango.” Councillor Zafar Ali said he did not condone the abuse of white girls by Asian men – but claimed the gang had “got the wrong end of the stick”.
This was rape. They were the stick.
He said: “The grooming itself is totally out of proportion, we don’t condone that. As a a Muslim, living here for 52 years, I can tell you that no no-one does, it is categorically not Islamic.”
Who said it was Islamic? And since when does gang rape trigger a lesson in theology?
“Things have happened which means justice has been done for the people who have suffered and the punishment has been given. My feeling is the Muslim community should be addressing this quietly, amicably and sensibly. We should be rational. It takes two to tango, there are bad apples, but it doesn’t mean to say everyone is bad. There are a few who unfortunately have got the wrong end of the stick, but that’s not Muslim. Sensible, mature Muslims would never allow that. They have condemned that. We need to find a way to address it, it needs to be looked into.
“There are a few people who lose themselves but the entire community shouldn’t be labelled. There is some feeling from some people that she played her part in it, the victim had a part to play.”
She had a part to play, yes. She was the childish vessel into which the men – aged 19 to 63 – unleashed their perversions, desires, insecurities, anger, hatred and criminality.
The Express (Page 12): “A depraved gang of Asian men who raped and abused a vulnerable 13-year-old white girls have been jailed…”
Page 12: “Police, social workers and councillors turned a blind eye, too afraid of being labelled racist to confront a growing epidemic of abuse until the full scale of horrors became clear.”
Daily Mirror (Page 20): “12 men jailed for gang rape of teenage girl”
The word “Asian” first appears in paragraph 2. Nowhere does it mention that the victim was white.
Daily Mail (Page 20): 143 years for child rape gang but leader escapes justice with flight to Bangladesh”
Not once does the Mail says the victim was white. It commends her “bravery in giving evidence”, as well it should.
The bastards are:
Khalid Mahood, 34, was given an extended sentence of 17 years comprising a custodial term of 13 and a half years and an extended licence of three and a half years.
Sufyan Ziarab, 22, from Keighley, West Yorkshire, was jailed for 15 years.
His brother Bilal Ziarab, 21, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was jailed for 12 years.
Yasser Kabir, 25, from Keighley was jailed for 15 years with a consecutive five years after being found guilty in June 2015 for offences on two girls aged between five and nine when he was between 13 and 15.
Hussain Sardar, 19, from Keighley received six years detention in a young offenders institution.
Nasir Khan, 22, from Keighley, was jailed for 13 years.
His brother Faisal Khan, 27, from Keighley was jailed for 13 years.
Saqib Younis, 29, from Keighley was jailed for 13 years.
Israr Ali, 19, from Keighley, received three and a half years detention in a young offenders institute.
Zain Ali, 20, from Keighley, received eight years in a young defenders institute.
Tanqueer Hussain, 23, from Keighley was jailed for 13 years and received a five year consecutive sentence for the rape of a second underage victim in 2009.
Mohammed Akram, 63, was jailed for five years.
Nazir Khan had a conviction for exposure and Bilal Ziarab a previous conviction for sexual activity with a child.
Only Tauqeer Hussain and Mohammed Akram were of previous good character.
The Times (Page 18): “Gang jailed for raping girl 13”
The paper begins: “A gang of men who groomed and repeatedly raped a vulnerable schoolgirl…”
No mention of race. Mentions of the world Asian, Muslim and white in the article: none.
The Times has not always been so shy of race:
ITV: “MP who warned of sex abuse gang says he was abused and threatened for making claims”
Conservative Kris Hopkins, MP for Keighley and Ilkley says:
In November 2012, I made a speech in the House of Commons expressing my horror at the fact that there were gangs of Asian men going around Keighley raping white girls.
I was castigated from many quarters, received many abusive pieces of correspondence and on one occasion was forced to clear my constituency office after receiving a threat.
This case, the many guilty verdicts reached and the heavy sentences rightly handed down underline the nature and the truth of the evil I spoke about back then and will continue to raise until it has been eradicated.
I am very well aware that there are numerous white paedophiles out there and they should be dealt with just as harshly. But the sick model of organised groups of Asian men grooming young white girls to be sexually abused remains a blight at the heart of many communities across this country. And sadly Keighley is at the top of the list.
I want to congratulate all of the police officers who played a part in bringing these guilty men to justice. It can often be a harrowing task to collect the necessary evidence to secure convictions and, once again, West Yorkshire Police has done an outstanding job.
I hope that the force’s dedication and professionalism will encourage other victims to come forward and help put other perpetrators behind bars. I am very happy to provide all necessary support through my office to facilitate this.
I continue to work very closely with senior police officers and ministers, including the Home Secretary Theresa May, to see what more can be done to uncover child grooming rings and track down those involved. We have already achieved a number of improvements to national law and I am confident that further positive changes will be made.
But I must end with a plea. Whilst the police, the Government and I as the local MP will continue to join forces to tackle these issues, we need the support of the entire community behind us.
I love Keighley, it’s the town I grew up in and I’m privileged to be its Member of Parliament. But Keighley’s proud name has been dragged through the mud too many times in recent years because of the heinous acts of sick men preying on vulnerable young girls.
I appeal directly to members of the local community that if you know of any individual or groups of individuals who may be involved in these activities, you have an obligation to pass this information on. We must work together to rid ourselves of this cancer, and we all have a part to play.
– KRIS HOPKINS MP
What to do?
Posted: 9th, February 2016 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
