Operation Stovewood: How a ten-year investigation into child sex abuse saw 26 people jailed

The largest inquiry into child sexual abuse in the UK will not be starting any new investigations from next year, after identifying more than 1,000 victims.

Operation Stovewood, which began in 2014, was set up by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

The inquiry focused on allegations of non-familial child sexual abuse which took place between 1997 and 2013.

What is Operation Stovewood?

Operation Stovewood began when the NCA was asked by the chief constable of South Yorkshire Police to lead an independent investigation into allegations of historic abuse.

Described by the NCA as "a unique and complex investigation", it focused on bringing offenders to justice and supporting the victims, some of whom were as young as 11. Almost all of them were girls.

It was set up in the wake of the Jay Report, which sent a shockwave across the nation in 2014 when it found that at least 1,400 girls were abused, trafficked and groomed by gangs of men of mainly Pakistani heritage in the town between those years.

According to the NCA, it is the UK's biggest investigation into child abuse.

The report by Professor Alexis Jay – who is now chairing the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse – prompted a swathe of resignations and further inquiries after it emerged how police, social workers and other agencies had done little to tackle the issue.

More than a third of the victims were previously known to services because of child protection and neglect.

The report prompted a swathe of resignations and further inquiries after it emerged that police, social workers, and other agencies had done little to tackle the issue.

It also prompted police forces across the length and breadth of England to launch their own investigations. They included: Operation Lakeland (Cornwall), Operation Span (Rochdale and Oldham), Operation Bullfinch (Oxford), Operation Brooke (Bristol), Operation Clover (South Yorkshire), and Operation Sanctuary (Newcastle).

What has the Operation Stovewood achieved?

Over almost a decade of operation, officers have identified more than 1,100 victims, made more than 200 arrests, and secured 26 convictions for crimes including rape, indecent assault, and engaging sexual activity in the presence of a child.

There remain more than 50 active investigations ongoing under the Stovewood banner, with more than 300 designated suspects identified.

The first trial took place in 2017, with Sajid Ali, Zaheer Iqbal, and Riaz Makhmood convicted of a total of 15 counts of indecent assault on a girl.

The girl, who was 12 when the abuse began in the mid-1990s, was plied with alcohol and encouraged to perform sex acts.

Sentencing the trio, Judge David Dixon said they had exploited and abused a young and vulnerable girl.

He said: "She was groomed, coerced and intimidated, she was called abusive names and she was treated like a thing, a thing that you passed around among yourselves."

Trials and convictions have continued into 2023, with the jailed ringleader of a child sex grooming gang admitting two further counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault.

Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar is already serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted in 2018 of raping and sexually assaulting young girls in Rotherham between 1998 and 2005

He will be sentenced for the new offences on 18 December.

Who has been jailed?

Among those sentenced during Operation Stovewood were:

• Mohammed Ahsan, 39, jailed for 18 years

• Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, 42, jailed for 23 years

• Asif Ali, 38, jailed for 10 years

• Sajid Ali, 37, jailed for seven-and-a-half years

• Tanweer Hussain Ali, 39, jailed for 14 years

• Asghar Bostan, 52, jailed for nine years

• Neil Cawton, 68, jailed for ten years

• Tony Chapman, 48, jailed for 25 years

• Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, 39, jailed for 15 years

• Ann Marie Evans, 27, received a six-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after admitting illegally identifying alleged sex abuse victims online.

• Aftab Hussain, 49, jailed for 24 years

• Sharaz Hussain, 39, jailed for four years

• Darren Hyett, 60, jailed for nine years

• Zaheer Iqbal, 40, jailed for seven-and-a-half years

• Nabeel Kurshid, 40, jailed for 19 years

• Riaz Makhmood, 39, jailed for six years and nine months

• Masaued Malik, 39, jailed for five years

• Abid Saddiq, 42, jailed for 20 years

• Iqlaq Yousaf, 39, jailed for 20 years

What happens now?

The NCA says it is committed to seeing all active investigations through to the end of the criminal justice process, which is anticipated to continue into 2027.

However, from 1 January 2024 the agency will no longer adopt any new investigations. Any new allegations will be investigated by South Yorkshire Police.

NCA Stovewood Head of Investigations Philip Marshall said the agency was "confident that we have done all we realistically can to identify those individuals who may have been victims during the Stovewood time period."

He added: "This does not mean we are walking away. We will continue to investigate in the cases we have already opened, and victims should know we will continue to treat them as a priority."We remain determined to seek justice for as many victims as possible and we will continue to work with partners including the CPS to bring as many offenders to justice as we can."Both the NCA and South Yorkshire Police are determined this process should be as seamless as possible, and we’re confident that should anyone new come forward after 1 January they will still be supported in exactly the same way."

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