A survivor of the Rotherham grooming gang has today spoken of her fear at her rapist walking through her front door thanks to a ‘disgraceful’ decision to give him access to the child he fathered.
The boy’s mother, Sammy Woodhouse, 33, waived her anonymity to identify herself as a rape victim, as she revealed she was left ‘scared and angry’ by the council and this morning said ‘my son is not his son’.
Arshid Hussain, 43, the ringleader of the notorious gang, was not named on her son’s birth certificate and had no parental responsibility for the child, who was born after his mother was raped, aged just 15.
But Hussain, who is serving 35 years in prison for multiple rape offences against nine victims – some as young as 11 – was contacted last year by officials from Rotherham Council, who said he had a right to see the child.
This morning she told Good Morning Britain she was ‘mortified’ at the decision to give Hussain access.
Sammy Woodhouse told Good Morning Britain this morning of her mortification at the rapist being allowed access to her child
Sammy Woodhouse was raped as a teenager and gave birth to her son aged fifteen – but the baby’s father was only jailed in 2016
Arshid Hussain was jailed for 35 years after being convicted of raping Ms Woodhouse and assaulting young girls
Ms Woodhouse was horrified to find out that the council had said her rapist was entitled to access to his son
The Rotherham sex abuse survivor was ‘shocked and mortified’ to find out about the decision
The rape survivor told the show that she was shocked and mortified by the decision to approach her rapist and invite him to seek access
‘I was completely shocked and mortified,’ she said. ‘I thought when I testified in court and he was sentence to 35 years I thought that was it, I can move on.
‘Yet here I am within 12 months later knowing at any moment he could walk through that door.’
She is calling for a change in the law so that no rapist is allowed to have access to children they father in sickening attacks.
‘Gobsmacked’ Miss Woodhouse said she wasn’t even told that she was attending court to discuss access for her rapist.
‘To then have a social worker say to me [at court] well actually he’s not attending and I asked what he meant, and when he told me I was in complete shock.
‘I proved he’s a direct harm to my child, the fact they’ve done this – I’m in shock. I’m quite fortunate in my case because he’s refused to apply for custody.’
A ‘gobsmacked’ Miss Woodhouse, a mother-of-two, said she was campaigning for a change in the law to prevent convicted sex abusers gaining access to children fathered as a result of their crimes. She said: ‘This story is about myself, about my son and about the man that raped me… and the fact that Rotherham Council have offered him to apply for parental rights over my child.
Sammy Woodhouse was left ‘scared’ when she found out she could have to face her rapist in court after he was told he could have access to her son
Ms Woodhouse was a teenager when she was groomed by her rapist Arshid Hussain known as ‘Mad Ash’
Ms Woodhouse has gone on to campaign for the rights of women who have been raped
‘This is happening all over the country and it needs to stop. Children are being removed, being given to rapists, to murderers, for their families to have access – rape victims are having to go to support centres to share access.’
Hussain, who is of Pakistani origin, opted not to get involved with the boy.
But the South Yorkshire council’s decision to contact him was criticised as ‘perverse’ and ‘ridiculous’ by victims’ charities and campaigners. Nazir Afzal, former chief crown prosecutor for the North-West, said: ‘They (councils) think they are doing the right thing because they are told it is important the child has access to both parents, but it is wrong.
What were the offences Hussain was guilty of?
Arshid Hussain (pictured), of East Cowick, Goole, was found guilty of:
- One count of conspiracy to rape
- One serious sexual assault
- One count of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sex with another
- One count of false imprisonment
- Two counts of procuring a woman under 21 to become a common prostitute
- One count of attempting to procure a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse
- One count of abducting a 15-year-old girl
- One count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm
He was cleared of two rapes, two counts of aiding and abetting rape and one of aiding and abetting a serious sexual assault at the end of the trial. He was also cleared of one count of abduction on the orders of the judge.
His brothers Bannaras, 36, and Basharat, 39, were also sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on the same day.
The Hussains were found guilty of a range of offences earlier this week along with their uncle, Qurban Ali, 53, and two women – Karen MacGregor, 59, and Shelley Davis, 40.
They targeted 15 vulnerable girls, one aged only 11, and forced them to perform horrific sex acts over a sixteen year period.
Bannaras Hussain admitted ten charges – including rape, indecent assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm – at the beginning of the trial. He was given a 19-year sentence.
‘By following the letter of the law they are lacking judgment – they are applying a tick-box approach when it is plainly a ridiculous thing to do.
‘Rapists have no right to the child born of that rape.’
Ms Woodhouse who now campaigns on behalf of sex assault victims was plied with drugs, abused and threatened at gunpoint by Hussain and his gang.
In 2016, Hussain and his two brothers were jailed at Sheffield Crown Court for sexually assaulting, grooming and raping young girls.
The brothers were also convicted of forcing a dozen girls into prostitution.
Louise Haigh, the shadow police and crime minister, who is backing Miss Woodhouse’s campaign to change the Children Act 1989, told The Times that the council’s decision was ‘appallingly insensitive’.
‘They handed him an invitation to re-traumatise his victim,’ she said. ‘No man who has fathered a child through abuse or rape should have the right to apply for custody or visitation rights.’
Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said the decision was ‘perverse’, adding: ‘This appears to be a case in which a victim of the worst sexual violence faced the prospect of continuing to be abused by her perpetrator, this time via the family courts.’
It is understood the Ministry of Justice is investigating whether the decision to involve the serial rapist was the result of a social worker’s error or systemic failings.
The decision was taken last year when the council applied, with the consent of Miss Woodhouse, to take her teenage son into care.
She was struggling to cope with his complex needs. By law, councils are obliged to notify ‘all respondents’ of such proceedings.
Despite acknowledging in documentation that Hussain had no parental responsibility for the boy and that Miss Woodhouse had been emotionally, sexually and physically abused by him, the council named him as a ‘respondent’.
In a video on Facebook Ms Woodhouse told followers she was planning to fight for women who are told their rapist can have a say in their children’s lives
Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, has criticised the local authority
The Ministry of Justice is investigating whether or not this was a systematic failing – or an error by a social worker after the father was told he could see the child he conceived through rape
Officials informed him of his rights and promised to keep him informed of all court proceedings.
At first, Ms Woodhouse says her son was ‘seduced’ by the idea of meeting his father, who Rotherham Council agreed to keep informed over the court proceedings.
She said her son was ‘catapulted into a dreamworld’ by the thought of a relationship with his jailed father.
However, he later changed his mind.
The traumatised mother also told of how she once had to detail the rape to authorities when she applied for a passport for her son.
Authorities said her son’s father must sign the documentation before they would allow the passport to be created.
Louise Haigh MP for Sheffield Heeley and Shadow Policing Minister said there was potential for the man to ‘retraumatise his victim’
Rotherham Council was widely criticised and declared ‘not fit for purpose’ over its handling of child exploitation following a damning report in August 2014. The review estimated that 1,400 girls were abused by men of predominantly Pakistani heritage in the town during a 16-year period to 2013.
The council said it had a duty to comply with Family Court practice directions, which included a requirement to give notice of proceedings to ‘every person whom the applicant believes to be a parent without parental responsibility for the child’. But a Government spokesman said: ‘Existing court rules are very clear that applicants in care proceedings should only ever notify people who have parental responsibility for the child.’
Rotherham gang which groomed, raped and abused teenage girls is jailed for total of 102 years including 35-year term for ringleader ‘Mad Ash’
The Rotherham gang which groomed, raped and abused teenage girls were jailed for a total of 102 years.
Brothers Arshid, 40, Bannaras, 36, and Basharat, 39, were also sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court today after a series of women told a jury how they were sexually, physically and emotionally abused in the South Yorkshire town when they were in their early teens.
The Hussains were found guilty of a range of offences earlier this week along with their uncle, Qurban Ali, 53, and two women – Karen MacGregor, 59, and Shelley Davis, 40.
Brothers Arshid (left), 40, and Basharat Hussain (middle), 39, committed multiple rapes and indecent assaults on teenagers in the South Yorkshire town. Their younger brother, Bannaras Hussain (right), 36, admitted ten charges – including rape, indecent assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm
The group targeted 15 vulnerable girls, one aged only 11, and forced them to perform horrific sex acts over a sixteen year period.
Judge Sarah Wright told the gang: ‘The harm you have caused is of unimaginable proportions.’
Arshid and Basharat Hussain were found guilty of dozens of attacks between them. Arshid, the ringleader, has been jailed for 35 years, while Basharat was given 25 years.
Bannaras Hussain admitted ten charges – including rape, indecent assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm – at the beginning of the trial. He was given a 19-year sentence.
The Hussain brothers’ uncle, Qurban Ali (left), 53, was also found guilty of conspiracy to rape. Shelley Davies, (centre) 40, was found guilty of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment. Karen MacGregor (right) took in girls from children’s homes purporting to give them a safe haven and support – only to then have them abused
The brothers’ uncle, Qurban Ali, 53, appeared alongside them in court. He too was found guilty of conspiracy to rape and has been jailed for 10 years.
MacGregor and Davis were found guilty of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment.
MacGregor was jailed for 13 years, while Davis was handed an 18-month suspended sentence.
Shocking details emerged of an incident where police appeared to turn a blind eye to Bannaras Hussain receiving oral sex from a girl who was only around 12 or 13 at the time.
Arshid Hussain (pictured) raped his young victims and subjected them to a catalogue of indecent assaults
Bannaras abused the victim in a car park next to Rotherham Police Station. The prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC said: ‘(The girl) performed oral sex on Bannaras Hussain.
‘When, shortly afterwards, a police car pulled up alongside them and asked what was going on, Bannaras Hussain shouted “she’s just sucking my c***, mate”.
‘The police car drove off. He was indifferent to whether she consented or not.’
The girl was beaten up by her own family when they found out she had been abused by the Rotherham grooming gang since she was 12.
The prosecutor added: ‘When her brothers found out, they were furious with her and would physically assault her because she was involved sexually with an Asian man.’
As Judge Wright passed sentence on Arshid, there was a shout of ‘Yes’ and gasps from the packed public gallery.
Some of the victims and their relatives who held hands on the balcony of the court hugged each other.
Arshid was clearly visible on a big screen in court – appearing by video-link from Doncaster Prison. He showed no reaction at the sentence, barely opening his eyes for most of the hearing.
The judge said: ‘Each in your own way perpetrated or facilitated the sexual abuse of these young girls.
‘Your victims were targeted, sexualised and in some cases subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature.
‘Many of the victims were subjected to repeated abuse. There was a pattern of abuse which was repeated over and over again. Some victims were groomed, some coerced and intimidated.
‘They were made to feel that they could not report what was happening to them.
‘Even if they did, no action was taken and you were free to continue your exploitation of them.’
Addressing Arshid, she said: ‘You and your brothers, Bannaras Hussain and Basharat Hussain, were well-known in the area – you drove distinctive cars and had a reputation for violence.
‘There was a perception by some of your victims that you appeared, in their words, to “rule Rotherham”. You exploited that to the full.’
Two other men, Majid Bostan, 37 and Sajid Bostan, 38, also brothers, were cleared of all charges.