Special investigation on Operation Sanctuary, the Police Enquiry into grooming Gang Operating in newcastle. Vulnerable teenagers, groomed and abused by a gang of asian men in newcastle have finally got justice. A multi Million PoundPolice Operation has uncovered years of Sexual Exploitation of children and young women. Its a problem that authorities across the country have struggled to tackle. But inside out can reveal how the investigation here came close to collapse after Northumbria Police secretly paid a man who raped a Child Thousands of pounds to infiltrate the Grooming Gang. For the first time, we tell the whole story. Police emergency . If you try anything you tried it on with us. He tried to sleep with us. A Police Operator takes a 999 call. Theres an argument going on. Its bleep rape. Shes my girlfriend, it doesnt matter, it doesnt matter. Go home, take a taxi, yeah. Well, go on then. Whats happening . She just wants to go. Ill go then. No. No, i need to know what is going on. Theres clearly a disturbance there. Whats going on . 0k, 0k, it doesnt matter, thank you. After the call, which lasted several minutes, the handler established she was speaking to this man. The police did investigate, but took no further action against minoyee, describing his victim as drunk and abusive. But six years later, this assault was played out in court as part of Operation Sanctuary, a Police Investigation finally lifting the lid on the actions of a Grooming Gang. It exposed how, over many years, a group of asian men from the west end of newcastle had been abusing vulnerable young women and girls. Throughout much of this programme were reconstructing real life events. Sarah was 19, extremely vulnerable and unable to look after herself. Along with other at risk teenagers, she was regularly abused by older men. These are sarahs words, spoken by an actor. They just sit there and have a couple of drinks, have a couple of puffs of cannabis, get up and dance and they try and get into the bedroom by grabbing us like around the belly, and when you do that against the door, no, they still try and drag you though to the bedroom. Basically, they think that, like with them having a load of money and theyre married and theyve got kids and all of that, that they can go for younger. Like our age, and have sex with them for like forty quid or a tenner or Something Like that. In the new year of 2014, sarah told the police shed been raped by abdul minoyee, the same man heard arguing on the 999 call three years earlier. Ever since ive kept to myself. I havent told my dad, my family members. I couldnt bring myself to tell anyone because i felt ashamed, embarrassed. And people were going, have you ever been raped . Well, i bloody have now im telling you, its proper horrible. I need somewhere to go, to be safe. A Police Officer took sarah on a tour of the west end to try to identify minoyees house and car and other places where what described as parties had taken place. Sarahs information was a red flag, the abuse was on a much bigger scale. I think it would have setjust about every alarm bell ringing that it was possible to sound. Andrew norfolk is credited by many for breaking whats described as a Conspiracy Of Silence over the issue of asian Grooming Gangs. At the time detectives in newcastle were hearing sarahs story, the authorities in South Yorkshire were under fire for failing to protect hundreds of victims of a Grooming Gang in rotherham. I find it almost inconceivable that when the rotherham scandal finally erupted there were not a great many Police Forces and local authorities across england sitting there and thinking, there but for the grace of god. How does anybody know that what was going on in rotherham for all those years wasnt happening in another part of the country . And it wasntjust rotherham, patterns were emerging of similar Grooming Gangs across england. Here, the detective in charge of sarahs case told his bosses that what she had said signalled something much bigger. Days later, the officers hunch was given added weight when two girls in care reported that theyd been repeatedly raped by a group of older asian men. The girls were aged ia and 15. The girls described being driven into newcastle where they were plied with alcohol and cocaine before being raped and beaten by several men. They were then given money and taken back to where they were in care. So a team from Northumbria Police began a massive intelligence gathering exercise. This is the moment when Operation Sanctuary began. Were dealing with offences of grooming, rape, drugs and human trafficking. There are cultural considerations there which we must be mindful of. And over the following weeks across the west end of newcastle. Police, police . They carried out a series of raids. Youre arrested for conspiracy to commit rape. What put your hands in front of you, please. Itll all be explained to you when you get to the police station. Conspiracy to commit rape . Keep it to yourself yet but. Inside the flats, the police discovered evidence of partying. And any maybes lasss names . 0h aye. Phones, lap tops, sims cards. They seized mobiles, computers and drugs, anything which would help piece together their investigation. At the beginning of 2014, they went public with the inquiry. 15 arrests as Police Investigate claims of sexual abuse of young women in newcastle. Some of them were in local authority care. This could be somebody who you see in circumstances that just doesnt feel right. You see them associating with older boys or indeed older men. There cant be any Political Correctness or any sensitivities. They are criminals who have committed some of the worst crimes in our society and we should deal with them with the full letter of the law. If it looks wrong and it feels wrong, then please get in touch with us. Police officers took to the streets on a publicity drive, taxi drivers and late night takeaways were ta rgetted. The publicity brought results, two teenagers walked into byker police station. They told a familiar story, of how theyd also been abused over several years. The girls explained how theyd been sitting on a bench in the early hours of the morning in benwell. They were wearing only pyjamas and were picked up by mohammed azram, known as azzi g. He offered to let them warm up in his car. The girls, then aged just 16, were taken away, fed drugs and alcohol and then one of them had sex with azram. The story is familiar. At first the girls believe theyre in a relationship, but then, as time goes on, the controlling becomes much more explicit. Theyre plied with drink and drugs, upon which they become increasingly dependent. Theyre sexually assaulted and shared around amongst the other men. So with the abusers in a tightly knit group and their victims often traumatized, the Police Investigation was fraught with difficulty. Perhaps thats why they took a highly controversial decision to recruit a man with a shocking past, and it could have derailed the entire inquiry. A chis is what most people would know is called an informant 01 a snout, a grass. Informants operate in a shadowy world that seldom comes to public attention. Neil woods has a unique insight, it was hisjob to handle informants in the midlands. Chis stands for covert human intelligence source. Its the person who a lot of the time has a criminal background and provides information to Police Officers about other criminal activities. The man chosen by Northumbria Police was a convicted child rapist. Xy, as he became known, was jailed for seven years for attacking a 15 year old girl. Hed picked her up off the street in 2001, plied her with drink and drugs and gang raped her with two of his friends. Despite being a high risk sex offender, the police decided to bring xy on board. He was already on their books having worked for them for several years as an informant. His task . To act as their man on the inside. We cant name xy for legal reasons, but he knew many in the Grooming Gang. This, in his own words, spoken by an actor, is why the Police Brought him into the inquiry. I was told this is an operation about asian Grooming Gangs. This is what we are after. These are the people we are interested in. I had to find out whats going on, where the parties were taking place. Last party i went to, one or two, i got to find out about parties, so when they were happening, i would ring it in. Between march 2014 and december 2015, xy was paid £10,300 for the information he supplied to his Police Handler. But that wasnt his only reward. There are a variety of motivations for chises. Most of the time its for financial benefit. Sometimes they are providing information because they hope that information will mean that they get a discount on a prison sentence, if they are on bail for something. During his time as an informant, xy benefitted from lighter sentences and he was certainly a prolific offender. In all, xy had 53 convictions. He had a history of fraud and assaults. While working for Operation Sanctuary, he was arrested for dishonesty, an assault in a mosque and he was even questioned about making sexual advances to a 13 year old girl. I think its absolutely disgusting. I dont think any police force should be working with paedophiles. Sammy woodhouse was just 14 when she was abused by a Grooming Gang in rotherham. He came to me as Me Prince Charming and then later on turned into a monster. She now advises Police Forces on how to tackle grooming. We showed her our information on xy. I think its an absolute kick in the teeth. Its just so insulting. They clearly thought that no one was going to know about it and they thought they would get away with it. How would you describe the behaviour of Northumbria Police in using a convicted sex offender like this . Its absolutely shameful and they should be ashamed of themselves and they need to ask themselves, how would ifeel if it was my daughter . As a victim, i dont think id go to that police force after Hearing Information like this. And if this kind of stuff can shock me, i know its going to shock anybody, and i dont think the public is going to be happy whatsoever when this gets out. I can completely understand the publics outrage, well probably never know the exact reason why the police used xy, what we do know is that their secret strategy could have wrecked the whole operation, as well see later. By the summer of 2015, the police were ready to bring their case to court. But with more than 20 defendants, the trials were divided up into four. In the first, eight men were in the dock. The verdicts . Sailful islam ten years for rape. Mohammed hassan ali seven years for Sexual Activity with and supplying drugs to a child. Mohammed azram, nashir uddin, Jahanghir Zaman all convicted of Sexual Assault, drugs offences and inciting women into prostitution. Yasser hussein got two years for assault and witness intimidation. Two others were acquitted. But the next cases didnt run so smoothly. In march 2016 it emerged that Xy The Child Rapist informant had fallen out with his Police Handler and was now threatening to go to the press. Xy had, in effect, gone rogue and was making highly damaging claims about the investigation. Weve obtained a secret transcript of xys interview with the National Crime agency, which was called in to investigate his allegations. Much of it is so sensitive that its been blacked out. But in the extracts we can read xy claims the Police Operation was racist, that he was tasked by his handler to plant drugs at the homes of the Grooming Gang and even told to take vulnerable girls to parties. He asked me at one Point Go Pick one up and bring her to the house and bring some drugs with you. So id go and pick up these lasses take them to the party, leave some drugs on the table. The claims caused an outcry in the court room. The prosecution wanted the whole issue debated in secret but the bbc challenged that, which is why we can now tell you the full story. Defence lawyers argued that xys claims so discredited the police case, it was fatally flawed and the trials should be abandoned. Years of investigation and a multi Million Pound enquiry were injeopardy. The prosecution has expressed incredulity at our complaint about the deployment of xy. A convicted child rapist who drugged a child, then contacted someone else to rape her after he had there were 30 occasions where it was disclosed by xy that he had been at parties. The police were happy for him to be going to parties, taking drugs, being out of control because of the high value of information. That is an affront to the public conscience. He had committed a series of frauds. He was arrested for assaulting someone in a mosque. He attempted to incite a Female Injuly 2015. He was arrested for breaching the Sex Offenders register. If the public were told this, would they have confidence in the administration ofjustice . It is not difficult to predict what the answer would be. Eventually the judge insisted xy should be brought to court. By now he and his family had been moved out of the area and were under round the clock police protection. He gave his evidence from behind a screen and blamed his many inconsistencies on the pressure of working as a police informant. You have to remember that ive been through a lot. Its impossible to remember whats true and whats not. Youve put me through this. If i got shot or died it would have been easier for my wife. Then she could keep the kids. We know who you are, you bleep grass at one stage there was an angry confrontation involving the men in the dock, men who previously saw xy as a friend but now discovered he was paid to spy on them. In the end, thejudge threw out the defences attempt to halt the trials and dismissed all of xys allegations. She said he was Wholly Unworthy Of Belief and rejected his evidence entirely. The police say their watchdog the ipcc has cleared them of any wrongdoing. Thejudge, though, said it wasnt herjob to rule on the Police Decision to employ xy. In effect, i am being asked to substitute my judgment about the kind of person who should be used as an informant, for the judgment of the officers whose work this is. That i decline to do. Others, though, are not so restrained. Personally, i cant envisage circumstances where i would have authorised payment to someone convicted of rape. Jim gamble is the former policeman who set up the Governments Task force to fight child Sexual Exploitation. When youre desperate for intelligence, i can see why there may have been an appetite for it. I cant imagine how you could have Control Mechanisms in place with an informant of that type, that you were going to task, that would give you reassurance that they didnt still represent a risk to young and vulnerable women, given what i know about this particular persons history. I think all Police Forces are under pressure to get things right. But there are Ways And Means of doing it. In my opinion, they have gone way over the line on this one. I certainly wouldnt like to think that somebodys out there paying my abuser for information. Would i be encouraging Police Forces across the country to go out and find a registered sex offender whod been convicted of a Sexual Assault against a teenage girl, to task and use them to infiltrate other groups . And the answer to that is no. This is the murky world in which we have to operate. We have to work in the shadows. This is the man with ultimate responsibility for taking on xy. We have to deal with people who themselves are guilty of some of the most vile offences imaginable. We have to consider whether wed pay murderers for information, would we pay rapists, drug dealers, and burglars. And quite often these people cant be trusted but the potential prize is that you just might get a piece of information, intelligence, possibly even evidence, that mightjust lead you to a successful conviction and you put bad people behind bars. But what message does it send to a rape victim that you might be paying their attacker . I think it sends out a message that we will do everything we can to make sure that other women and girls are not victims of the same type of atrocity that they have been. Thats our commitment. In principle, then, it sounds like you would use a convicted sex offender again in the future . Yes, 100 , all day and all night. And if im presented with the same problem tomorrow, ill do exactly the same thing again. Because, if im going to be able to protect somebody, and in that individual case im content that we have not only brought dangerous men to justice and put them behind bars. In some cases, we have actually saved lives on the back of information that we have gained. And now, am i going to take that risk again . Youre damn right im going to. Its inside the law, Inside Accepted Policy and practice. I get that people might be quite shocked by it but actually this is the right thing to do. In the three years since it started, Operation Sanctuary has led to a series of other spin off operations, covering human trafficking, modern day slavery, drugs and firearms offences. Northumbria police say this has resulted in 97 convictions, with sentences totaling more than 300 years. But this week, the last of the four grooming trials came to an end, bringing to 18 the number convicted on charges ranging from rape to conspiracy to incite prostitution. Others, like nadeem aslam, were convicted of supplying drugs but cleared of sex charges. Some of the offenders have already been given long jail sentences. The rest will be sentenced in september. Im absolutely satisfied, however difficult its been, i look at the results that weve achieved. Theres some vile individuals sat in prison today because of the dedicated work that officers in Northumbria Police have done to encourage victims and complainants to have the courage to come forward. So have i any regrets about that . None, zero. So Operation Sanctuary raises many important questions. As in dozens of similar cases across england, why were the abusers exclusively asian men . Here was a Crime Pattern that had existed for at least two decades, and from the very first day, we ran our very first article, which was in january 2011, saying here is a Conspiracy Of Silence in acknowledging this, why are you not acknowledging that this pattern exists . From that day one, we said what is absolutely crucially needed is research to understand why this pattern has put down, such deep roots that research is still not being carried out. Why is it that there appears to be a predominance of this type of offending in a particular community . I think that community has to be asked that question. I think we can take part in that debate but its not led by the police. Thats a job for society itself. We understand Newcastle City Council has launched a serious case review to examine why vulnerable teenagers in its care were not better protected. The men responsible for ruining so many young lives are facing long sentences. For the police this cannot yet be case closed. While the difficulty of investigating Grooming Cases cant be underestimated many are left wondering if it can ever be right to pay a Child Rapist Thousands of pounds from the public purse . Hello, there. After a mixed, changeable and in places soggy week of weather, the weekend is looking different. Things are actually not looking too bad. It should be mostly dry. There will be some spells of sunshine around. Having said that, a bit of a cloudy start particularly in the South Of England and into the Channel Islands. Could be the odd spot of drizzle through the morning. Things will brighten up, though, and across the country a mixture of patchy cloud, sunny spells in just a few showers in the afternoon. But the showers will be the exception rather than the rule. So for the Channel Islands into the South West Of England by the afternoon it should be mainly dry with some. A similar story across wales into the midlands, but with the addition of just one or two showers, most places avoiding these. For the South East Up avoiding these. For the South East Up into east anglia, mainly fine. Temperatures could get up to 22 degrees. For northern england, Northern Ireland and scotland showers will be isolated. Most places will be fine with sunshine. No Heatwave Temperatures in glasgow but it will be pleasant enough in the sunshine. For the World Championship athletics in london it should stay fine with them sunny spells and that fine weather takes us on spells and that fine weather takes us on into the evening. In fact, as this area of high establishes itself across the British Isles and should stay fine into the early hours of sunday. There could be the Odd Mess Patch and it will turn quite chilly, especially at the countryside in the north west. It could get down to two, three orfour north west. It could get down to two, three or four celsius. North west. It could get down to two, three orfour celsius. So sunday a cool start if you are out and about early but a lovely looking day with plenty of sunshine. Light winds, a bit of patchy cloud here and there. Some Rain Beginning to fringe in towards Northern Ireland late in the day but i think on balance it should stayjust late in the day but i think on balance it should stay just about dry. Temperatures 17 to 22 degrees. Things do change into the start of the new working week. We will see a band of wet weather sweeping its way in from the west. This then becomes quite slow moving across the country, so we will see some heavy burst of rain at times. All the while the south east will state dry. Turning warm and humid here. This frontal system responsible for the rain doesnt move very far so more wet weather to come, particularly towards the east of scotland on tuesday. Elsewhere a mix of sunny spells and showers. The showers heavy and possibly thundery in the south east, and highs of 16 to 23 degrees. This is bbc world news. Im gavin grey. Our top stories President Trump keeps up the war of words on north korea as the heated rhetoric continues he again warns pyongyang not to target us territories. He will truly regret it, and he will regret it fast. Kenyas re elected President Appeals for calm after being declared the winner of tuesdays disputed election the opposition claims the vote was a charade. At least 37 people die as two trains collide in Northern Egypt its the countrys worst rail crash in years. The Nuclear Bunker that became a Cannabis Factory a british courtjails 3 men after police break up a major drugs ring