Charity says 'insufficient action' taken over Aylesbury abuse concerns

The children's charity Barnardos has accused authorities of taking "insufficient action" over concerns they raised seven years ago about a girl whose abusers have now been convicted of a string of sex offences.

Six members of a child sex ring in Aylesbury are facing lengthy jail sentences for taking part in the horrifying abuse of two schoolgirls.

Michelle Lee-Izu told the BBC the charity worked with the girls in 2008, and made a referral to the appropriate agencies about one of the victims.

"At that time, the agencies didn't respond in a way that we wanted, that we expected them to, although some actions were taken by the local authority, so we escalated those actions further.

"But insufficient action was taken as far as we were concerned", she added.

Buckinghamshire County Council has apologised to the victims of the Aylesbury sex ring after six men were found guilty for their role in the abuse.

The horrifying abuse - involving rape and child prostitution - went on for several years.

The council said the victims had been let down, admitting that indications had "probably" been there.

ITV News' Peter Smith reports:

Buckinghamshire County Council has apologised to the victims of a child abuse ring for "letting them down", and admits that it "probably" missed signals about the crimes.

Speaking outside the Old Bailey, David Johnston, the council's director for children's services, gave the apology on behalf of the council over the abuse committed against two girls between 2006 and 2012.

He said: "We know a great deal more about child sexual exploitation than we did back then and I hope that young people who are worried about themselves or someone they know will have the same courage to come forward. We will do everything in our power to help them."

Johnston added that a serious case review had been launched by the council's safeguarding board.

Asked whether any signs of the abuse had been missed, he said: "There were probably indications that may have been there that our staff were not as aware of at that point.

"So I'm not saying the indications weren't there, but the knowledge around dealing with this type of phenomenon wasn't there at the time."

A retrial is to be sought by the Crown Prosecution Service for one of the 11 men who stood trial accused of involvement in an Aylesbury child abuse ring.

Jurors could not decide on charges against Jerome Joe, 35, of Pightle Crescent, Buckingham, who denies one count of rape and a single count of sexual activity with a child.

Six of the 11 were convicted, while the remaining four were cleared by the jury.

Both child victims of an Aylesbury sex ring came from troubled backgrounds and were described during the trial as "easy prey" for abuse.

While aged 12 or 13, one of the vulnerable girls - named A during the trial - was passed between 60 mostly Asian men after being conditioned to think it was normal, the jury heard.

Most of the charges in the trial related to child A, while three charges related to child B. Both were groomed with gifts such as alcohol, DVDs, food and, occasionally, drugs.

Prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC told jurors the girls' idea of what was right had been "completely distorted", meaning they thought the abuse was "normal" and "natural".

He added that the children "spoke in terms of these men being their boyfriends" and were "passed from man to man - sometimes on a daily basis".

Four of eleven defendants have been cleared after a trial over a child sex ring in Aylesbury.

A total of 11 men went on trial for 51 offences between 2006 and 2012, including alleged multiple rape of a child under 13, child prostitution and the use of a substance to "stupefy" a girl for sexual activity.

Six were found guilty, while jurors could not reach a verdict on the remaining defendant.

Six members of a child sex ring in Aylesbury have been found guilty at the Old Bailey of their part in the horrifying abuse of two schoolgirls which went on for years on a massive scale.

The convicted men were:

• Vikram Singh, 45, of Cannock Road, Aylesbury - convicted of four counts of rape and administering a substance with intent
• Asif Hussain, 33, of Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes - convicted of three counts of rape
• Arshad Jani, 33, of Cousins Drive, Aylesbury - convicted of rape and conspiracy to rape
• Mohammed Imran, 38, of Springcliffe Street, Bradford - convicted of three counts of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape and one count of child prostitution
• Akbari Khan, 36, of Mandeville Road, Aylesbury - convicted of two counts of rape, administering a substance with intent and conspiracy to rape
• Taimoor Khan, 29, of Highbridge Road, Aylesbury - convicted of one count of sexual activity with a child