'It's a token sentence!' Maggie Oliver casts doubt on grooming gang facing justice after 277-year sentence

Maggie Oliver has expressed her doubt at a major Yorkshire grooming gang facing real justice after receiving a combined 277-year sentence.

Speaking to GB News, the grooming gangs whistleblower declared the jail term a "token sentence", admitting she has "mixed feelings" about it.

Following a major police investigation and six separate trials at Leeds Crown Court, a West Yorkshire grooming gang was sentenced to a combined total of 277 years.

The gang committed offences of horrific sexual abuse involving girls as young as 12 between 1995 and 2003 in Dewsbury and Batley in Kirklees.

Reacting to the sentencing of the gang, Ms Oliver broke down the 277-year sentence and revealed how long each offender in the gang would actually serve.

She told GB News: "I've got mixed feelings, honestly. The optics of it are that this is huge sentences and there are some really powerful, there are some really relevant sentences in that.

"But there are 20 offenders, 220 years, divide that by 20, it actually comes to 10 years each. And they will only serve under half of their sentences, so that means that they're going to, on average, spend about five years in prison."

Ms Oliver stressed the survivors of the horrific crimes have waited "30 years" for justice, and have lost their childhoods as a result.

She said: "This has taken 30 years to bring to trial, and remember that those victims who are the centre of this case have not only lost their childhood as they were abused between 1995 and 2003, they've also lost another 25 years of their life waiting for this to come to court.

"So I've got mixed feelings about it. We've had six trials, and I think we have to get the system better."

The former detective constable also called for more accountability from professionals in policing and social services, particularly those who "knew and did nothing about it".

Ms Oliver told GB News: "The other thing I want to say is that yes, survivors and victims want justice for themselves, but what they really want is accountability from those professionals in policing and social services.

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"And there's no mention of criminal accountability for all those professionals who knew those children were being abused and did nothing about it. Victims' lives have been blighted.

"So, we get the optics of this total number of years, but we've had eight years of hell for those children when they were children, they weren't protected."

Drawing on the positives of the sentencing, Ms Oliver argued the authorities are "more willing to sentence appropriately" for rape gang offences.

She said: "I do think they're on a positive side note, we are more willing to sentence appropriately. Those charges, though, will be just token charges.

"That's the tip of the iceberg in my opinion, for the abusers, for the rapists. In my foundation we're actually supporting one of these victims, and she has an awful lot to say about this still, so I've got mixed feelings."

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Stevens, of West Yorkshire Police’s Kirklees district, described the offences as "truly appalling sexual abuse" carried out by "heartless predators".

He added: "The very significant jailed terms given to some of these men speak volumes about their depravity and the abuse meted out to victims in this case.

"It cannot be stressed more highly that the reason this dreadful offending came to light was the courage of victims who have come forward and reported the offending they were subjected to.

"These women showed enormous bravery in giving evidence in lengthy trials and I hope they can feel a sense of pride in the determination they have displayed to see justice done."

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