Seven arrests as suspected grooming gang busted over 20 years on

Seven suspected members of a grooming gang which raped and forcibly drugged a 15-year-old girl over 20 years ago have been arrested by Greater Manchester Police.

The men, aged between 41 and 54, were taken into custody following raids at nine addresses in Manchester, Stockport and Wilmslow this morning before being questioned on suspicion of offences including rape and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The allegations relate to the tragic case of Victoria Agoglia, who died from a heroin overdose in 2003 despite her carers at the time being aware of her being exploited for sex by older men in exchange for cash, alcohol and hard drugs.

At one of this morning's raids, a suspect's partner sobbed as officers revealed he was being arrested on suspicion of the rape of a female under the age of 16.

So far, GMP has arrested 64 suspects since it launched Operation Green Jacket in May 2019 - in the wake of a damning report which highlighted the failings of Operation Augusta which was looking into allegations of sexual grooming in south Manchester in 2004/05 before being suddenly discontinued because of resources.

The 2004 operation was launched in response to the death of 15-year-old Victoria, who had been subjected to severe abuse and exploitation for two years before she died. 

However, prior to her death, the teenager disclosed to social workers that she was being forcibly injected with drugs and raped - including sometimes abused by up to 25 men in a single night - but no effective action was taken to protect her. 

In the run-up to her death in 2003, Victoria ran away from her terraced house 21 times in the space of two months, and on five occasions the police were asked to look for her.

But on other occasions, instead of trying to find her, carers messaged her asking: 'When are you coming back?'

A scribbled note written by Victoria, titled 'Things I've done in the past', was passed to cops by social services and documented the abuse she suffered at the age of 13.

Victoria's devastating letter in full  

Things I have done in the past

I drank, smoked weed, took pills, had blown coke, had heroin – just for what?

All you do is get a laugh out of it but also it can kill you. I am only 13. I got the rest of my life ahead of me.

I have slept with people older than me, half of them I don't even know their names. I am a slag and that is nothing to be proud of.

Now I think why I did it, just to impress the boys and they treated me like ****. Even one night when I was out I was pilled up with some boy and Sam because they were out of their faces so much they crashed the car. 

Police looked all over Mosside Longsight but we never got caught and all the thing I lost just for drugs. Boys, my family and family is supposed to mean a lot to people at the time it did, not for me. 

So I lost all of that. I just hope I knew that at the time but I did not. Next time you should think family before drink, drugs, sex or money.

Aged 13, 1989  

She wrote how she 'slept with people older' than her - 'half of them I don't even know their names. I am a sl*g.'

She went on: 'I think it I did it just to impress the boys and they treated me like ****. All the things I lost for drugs. Boys, my family, I lost all of that.'

The letter was signed off 'age 13, 1989.'

Her tone showed how the schoolgirl was in desperate need of help by police. But the letter was never acted upon.

In September 2003, Victoria visited the home of a 50-year-old Asian man - Mohammed Yaqoob - who injected her with heroin.

She died in hospital five days later. He was later jailed for three and half years for injecting her with a noxious substance after being cleared of manslaughter.

Operation Augusta further identified up to 97 suspected offenders and at least 57 potential victims. But a review commissioned by Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, in 2017 discovered it was discontinued in July 2005 due to a lack of resources.

After this morning's raids, Detective Inspector Eleanor Humphreys, deputy senior investigating officer for Operation Green Jacket, said: 'Today's action is just the latest part of our wide-ranging investigation into the shocking abuse that young children were being subjected to in south Manchester in the early 2000s.

'Despite the passage of time, this investigation will not go away until offenders are held responsible for their appalling actions. We are clear when we say that in Greater Manchester, time is no barrier to justice.

'Our extensive work alongside partners will continue. We are doing everything in our power to support survivors and work at a pace they are comfortable with, to listen to them and to ensure that suspects are identified, traced, and brought into custody.'

Three weeks ago GMP announced one man had been charged in connection with the investigation.

At the original inquest into Victoria Agoglia's passing in 2007, coroner Simon Nelson concluded that the authorities could not have foreseen the death, but the review later commissioned by Mr Burnham in 2017 and published in 2020, found that social services 'failed to protect her'. 

The damning 2020 report said the coroner's narrative verdict recorded at her inquest 'significantly underplays the coercion and control she was subject to' in terms of child sexual exploitation.

It also suggested the content of the report, following information gathered as part of the review, could represent new evidence. It found Victoria was threatened, assaulted and taken back to her residential unit 'intoxicated'.

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The report also looked into details relating to a number of other victims and found that most had been 'failed by police and children's services', going as far as to say that the authorities knew that many were being subjected to abuse and exploitation but 'did not protect them' from the perpetrators.

Joan Agoglia, Victoria's grandmother, broke down in tears as she revealed how the teenager was regularly beaten and left bruised by her abusers at a press conference in 2020.

The failings identified prompted another investigation into grooming gangs in Greater Manchester, known as Operation Green Jacket, which is ongoing and today's raids were a part of.

Following this morning's raids, Coun Julie Reid, executive member for Children's Services for Manchester City Council, said: 'We welcome these arrests and progress in this important and complicated operation. We share GMP's determination to see the perpetrators of these awful crimes brought to justice.

'The Council has actively supported this operation through staffing and other resources since it began. Operation Green Jacket exemplifies how effectively GMP, the council and other partners are now working together to tackle child sexual exploitation and support those affected by it.'