Loyalist bomber and Loughlinisland massacre suspect led part of Orange Order parade
Gormy McMullan a notorious loyalist terrorist who featured in an RTÉ documentary about the murder of six Catholics during the Troubles, was out marching with the East Belfast band yesterday. McMullan, a serial jailbird was a leading suspect in the shocking Loughinisland massacre, is to tie the knot with stunning Asian beauty Bannapon Nuch Jathasan.
Interior of O'Toole's bar in Loughinisland the morning after the UVF shot dead 6 people.
A convicted loyalist bomber and major suspect in the shocking Loughinisland massacre stepped out in the summer sunshine on Saturday to lead part of the largest Orange Order parade in Northern Ireland, the Sunday World can reveal.
Gorman McMullan (71) is a flag carrier in the well-known UVF Regimental Band from east Belfast.
And despite his age, McMullan was one of the front runners in the colour party as the khaki-clad marching men made their way into Belfast city centre to meet up with other lodges and bands.
McMullan and his mates appeared to revel in the applause they drew from onlookers who cheered loudly as the bandsmen passed by.
He had an air of respectability about him as he kept perfect step on his seven-mile journey through the streets of the city over the weekend.
Interior of O'Toole's bar in Loughinisland the morning after the UVF shot dead 6 people.
He told the Sunday World: 'I've had a great day. It's half-time, I've had a wee drink and we are about to start our journey home.'
But it was clear that very few of those standing on the sidelines had any idea that the flag-carrying pensioner has in fact a lengthy loyalist paramilitary past.
And that he was still a suspect in one of the worst atrocities of the entire Troubles.
Six men died when the UVF carried out a machine-gun attack on the Heights Bar in the sleepy Catholic village of Loughinisalnd in rural Co Down. Five others were seriously wounded.
Shortly after 10pm on June 18, 1994, two UVF gunmen walked into the packed pub and shouted 'Fenian bastards' before opening fire on the customers who were watching Ireland playing in the World Cup.
The dead were Adrian Rogan (34), Daniel McCreanor (59), Eamon Byrne (59), Patrick O'Hare (35), Barney Green (87) and Malcolm Jenkinson (53).
As the gunmen fled to their red Triumph Acclaim car, they were heard to be laughing at the bloody handiwork they left back in the bar.
Gormy McMullan is still suspected of being the getaway driver of the vehicle, which was found abandoned in a field between Crossgar and Ballynahinch the following day.
No Stone Unturned – an award-winning documentary by Alex Gibney on the atrocity – names McMullan as the 41-year-old getaway driver.
Gormy McMullan a notorious loyalist terrorist.
News in 90 Seconds - Monday July 14th
And a bestselling book Shooting Crows by investigative reporter Trevor Birnie does the same.
McMullan was one of several suspects arrested and questioned after the attack, but he was never charged.
Decked out in a replica World War I army uniform complete with woollen tunic and puttee leg wraps, Gormy – as McMullan is known in loyalist circles – appeared to weaken in the searing heat as the parade pulled up outside Belfast City Hall for a break.
'Our band's uniform is identical to what the men wore in World War One,' said McMullan. And the veteran loyalist added: 'We even wear long johns underwear, so we are melted in the heat.'
It's exactly a year ago this week since the Sunday World revealed that former ladies man McMullan had decided to tie the knot with Asian beauty, Bannapon Nuch Jathasan. A tiler by trade and a well-known singer in the loyalist pubs and clubs in east Belfast, McMullan was inundated with messages of congratulations and goodwill.
It is understood the couple met two years ago during one of Gormy's many trips to Pattaya in Thailand. He is known to enjoy extended holidays to the tourist hotspots of Thailand and Vietnam. And he took to Facebook to officially announce his engagement.
And when the Sunday World contacted him days later to pass on our regards, Gormy said: 'Aye dead on. Thanks very much.'
He also remained tight-lipped regarding exactly where the couple planned to live after they tie the knot.
On Saturday, Belfast businessman Jim Murtagh, who has known McMullan from childhood, told us: 'I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think Gormy and Bam Bam got married recently. I know, she refers to him as her husband,'
Originally from the Clarawood estate in east Belfast, McMullan first came to the attention of the authorities shortly after the Troubles erupted in August 1969.
At that time, he was a member of the ruthless loyalist paramilitary group the Red Hand Commando. And he was caught 'red-handed' blowing up the Catholic-owned Hillfoot Bar on the edge of the Braniel estate. McMullan was sent down for eight years.
Behind bars, McMullan built up a close relationship with members of the notorious Shankill Butchers murder gang, including its psycho leader Lenny Murphy.
In a BBC TV documentary called Loyalists, McMullan told veteran journalist Peter Taylor he believed Lenny Murphy and his mates in the Shankill Butchers were 'a decent bunch of lads'.
On his release from prison, McMullan maintained his new-found links with the Shankill Road UVF and he took part in and armed robbery at a meat plant in the Woodvale area. But he was caught again and this time he went down for five years.
In 1985, McMullan was scooped at the ferry port of Stranraer.
Travelling to Scotland to see his beloved Rangers, he refused to fill in a Disembarkation Card – a requirement under the Prevention of Terrorism Act – and he was arrested.
An associate who was with him was fined £100. But McMullan was sent to Barlinnie Prison for 30 days.
In a recent exchange with the Sunday World, McMullan declined to discuss his paramilitary past.
'I'm expecting big things from the Rangers this season,' was all he said.
When we challenged Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland secretary, the Reverend Mervyn Gibson, about people with a paramilitary criminal past marching in Orange Order parades, he told us: 'If they have gone to prison and paid their debt to society, then there is nothing to stop them.'
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Sunday World
an hour ago
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Miami Showband survivor felt ‘sick' when he saw migrant boat on loyalist bonfire
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Des – whose autobiography My Saxophone Saved My Life hit the shops this week – said the shocking 'migrants boat' bonfire was 'a bad taste stunt' and 'racist in the extreme'. Moygashel UVF man Wesley Somerville – who died placing a bomb in the Miami Showband's van – was also honoured this week when local loyalists flew a banner bearing his image from a lamppost in the village. And there's a UVF mural in tribute to Wesley in the town, which has been recently painted. At the time of his death, 34-year-old William Wesley Somerville was a serving soldier in the Ulster Defence Regiment. The bonfire in Moygashel And during the same horror attack five decades ago, Somerville's brother John pumped 22 bullets into Miami lead singer Fran O'Toole's face. But last night – as he prepared to launch his new book – Miami musician Des posed the question: 'Have loyalists in Moygashel learned nothing in 50 years?' And directly addressing loyalists in the Tyrone village, he said: 'In our time, the Miami Showband gave their fans hours of happiness and joy. But today – 50 years later – loyalists in Moygashel are still building bonfires of hate. Why?' The book, My Saxophone Saved My Life – The Miami Showband Massacre and My Quest for Answers, tells the amazing life story of west Belfast boy Des McAlea – as he was known – who went on to make his name in the music business as a leading member of the massively popular Miami Showband. Five decades ago, the Miami Showband were the most popular entertainment act in Ireland, with legions of fans on both sides of the border. But a carefully planned UVF gun and bomb attack at Buskhill outside Newry, on July 31 1975, left three band members dead and two others seriously injured. Miami Showband fell victim to Wesley Sommerville and his UVF gang of killers. The band were travelling back to Dublin after a successful show in Banbridge when their minibus was stopped by armed men dressed as soldiers. They forced the band members to stand in a line adjacent to a ditch at the side of the road. Des was concerned about the way the men were moving things around in their vehicle. And he asked permission to remove his saxophone, which was granted. By complete chance, when he returned to the line-up, Des took up a different position. That small decision probably saved his life. And last night he recalled the moment he lost his band mates and when another three were seriously wounded by gunfire. 'When the bomb went off, I was blown into the ditch and the explosion set it on fire. The gunfire was relentless. But suddenly the noise stopped and the shouting voices disappeared into the distance. 'I was lying next to Stephen Travers, who was badly shot. Then I called out the names of the other lads, but there was no reply. 'I whispered to Stephen I was going to make a run for it to get help. I ran up that ditch like an Olympic athlete and then I saw a sight I never want to see again. There were bits of bodies lying every where. It was horrible that human beings could do that. "I didn't know it at the time but I saw Wesley Somerville's mutilated body lying next to another UVF man, who had also been blown to bits. I never want to see anything like that again. 'I kept running and when I got to the main road to Newry, I flagged down a lorry, but the driver refused to take me. A memorial plaque to UVF killer Wesley Somerville in Moygashel 'I then signalled to a car to stop and the couple in it, thank God drove me to Newry. The RUC at Ardmore had no knowledge about what had happened a few miles out the Belfast road. But they soon realised they had a major incident on the hands. 'I was in a state of complete shock and I had bits of shrapnel in my body. The police got a doctor for me. He gave me medication to calm me, but I never took it. I didn't trust anyone. 'After a couple of hours the detectives asked me if there was a girl in the van. I said no, but then it emerged Fran's face was so badly mutilated by the gunfire, the police wondered if the dead body was female,' said Des. At least four of the Miami Showband attackers were serving members of the British army's Ulster Defence Regiment. And during an interview with RUC detectives, Des was able to supply a vital piece of information which led the police to positively identifying one of the UVF gunmen. He said: 'I remembered one of the soldiers was wearing horn-rimmed Buddy Holly-type glasses. And from fragments found on the road, the police managed to trace the prescription and track down one of the gunman.' UVF serial killer Robin 'The Jackal' Jackson – who had assumed command of the Mid-Ulster UVF days before the Miami Showband Massacre – was also badly burned in the incident. Three members of the band were killed by the UVF on a rural road after a gig in Banbridge, County Down, in 1975. In November 1981, Wesley Somerville's brother John was convicted of another unrelated murder and he was also convicted of the three Miami Showband murders. He was sentenced to 35 years, but served just 18 years behind bars. Somerville was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, which he opposed. Last year the Sunday World revealed details of a prison confession, where Somerville admitted his role in the murder of Fran O'Toole. The young singer and keyboard player had been pursued into a field where John Somerville shot him 22 times in the face. Somerville told a fellow loyalist prisoner: 'I saw my brother blown to bits in the explosion and I went crazing. I just kept firing wildly.' After his release from prison, Somerville died of cancer. Last night, Des Lee explained that there isn't a day passes when he doesn't think of his dead band mates. He said: 'I relive what happened every day of my life. But when I look at the glorifying of Wesley Somerville and Harris Boyle in Moygashel, I'm just appalled that people can celebrate murder. 'The Miami Showband was made up of people of different faiths. Religion didn't come it.' He added: 'How can you have a monument to people who murdered innocent young musicians? It beats me.'
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Sunday World
Forty years on, family still seek justice for brutal killing of Fr Niall Molloy
'There are people alive who know what happened' It was a case that shocked and transfixed the nation: a respected priest found dead in the bedroom of a prominent business couple in a rural village in the midlands. There were rumours of an affair, a possible motive relating to money problems and a trial that would see the accused, Richard Flynn, walk free. Today, 40 years on from the death of Father Niall Molloy, the story, one of religion, high finance, horse breeding and even politics, still captivates. And despite the passage of time and the many secrets that remain buried, the priest's relatives believe that the truth is still to be uncovered. 'There are people still alive today who know exactly what happened to Niall,' Fr Molloy's nephew, Bill Maher, told the Sunday World this week. 'Maybe they are afraid to say that they were there, that they were witnesses. You would think that after 40 years one of them at some stage would speak up, but they are still being silent. 'I have the photographs of the body. He was attacked and the medical evidence is that he was left there for hours to die.' Fr Molloy's nephew Bill Maher. Photo: Martin Maher It was July 7, 1985. For Roscommon-born Fr Molloy, the day began as usual, with the celebration of Sunday mass in his parish of Fuerty. Later that day he made his way to Clara in Co Offaly. There, he went to Kilcoursey House, the home of his friends of three decades, Richard and Therese Flynn, to join in the celebrations of a family wedding that had taken place the day before. He was a frequent visitor to the 23-roomed Tudor-style home, where he had his own bedroom. The former Army chaplain shared an interest in horses and showjumping with the Flynns, who owned and ran a number of businesses in the midlands. He was hands on in running the place 'Niall had all his horses there on the land,' Mr Maher said. 'He had a van there. 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A long, bloody dragmark on the white bedroom carpet suggested the body was moved. Blood smears and spatters were evident in the room and elsewhere. Emergency services were never called. Medical evidence later suggested the priest may have been alive for several hours after the assault. Richard Flynn leaving the court in Dublin in 1986. Photo: Brian Farrell Richard Flynn telephoned a now-deceased local priest at 1am to come and be prepared for an anointment. It was after 3am before local gardaí were alerted. By this time, the family doctor, who like many others in the story is now dead, was at the house, as were other members of the Flynn family; Therese had been taken to hospital. When questioned, Richard Flynn admitted he was the culprit. Charged subsequently with the manslaughter and assault of Fr Molloy, the 47-year-old businessman was acquitted of all charges a year later. In a trial that lasted less than four hours, Justice Frank Roe, then president of the Circuit Court, directed the jury to acquit. The medical evidence, Judge Roe said, was inconclusive and it would be improper to convict on Mr Flynn's statement alone. The acquittal came despite garda concerns over monies owed to Fr Molloy after a land deal fell through. 'I was at that trial and we were gobsmacked,' Mr Maher said. He was very trusting, but his trust was betrayed 'That was the first time we heard that there was a row over a drink. Niall wasn't a drinker. We absolutely believe there was a row over money. 'Niall had been to a solicitor on the Thursday before he was murdered. He actually wanted to pull out of all business dealings with the Flynns. 'He was very trusting, but his trust was betrayed.' Fr Niall Molloy A month after the trial, a jury in an inquest decided that Fr Molloy had, in fact, died from head injuries, which prompted a public outcry and calls in political circles for the case to be re-examined. In a bizarre twist, the case file was stolen from the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1987 by the criminal Martin Cahill, known as 'The General', who tried to sell it back to the State. Then, in 1988, even more questions were raised when new medical evidence suggested Fr Molloy had survived for a number of hours after the assault. In the same year, Therese Flynn was linked to a fraudulent life insurance claim on Fr Molloy's life, but denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of the policy, which was eventually paid out to the Molloy family. In 1994, the case took another turn with claims that Judge Roe was known to both the Flynns and Fr Molloy and should not have heard the court case. Martin 'The General' Cahill stole the files. Photo: Getty In his only interview after the trial and inquest, Mr Flynn spoke to the Sunday Independent, saying his 'conscience was clear' and that he had 'never lost a moment's sleep'. Rumours over the years that his wife was having an affair with Fr Molloy have been discounted by the Molloy family. 'I don't believe there was any relationship,' Mr Maher said. 'That has been discounted a long time ago. He was friendly with them, he was naive enough to loan them money. He trusted them, that's the type of person he was.' In response to allegations of a 'cover-up' and new witnesses coming forward, the Garda Serious Crime Review Team (SCRT) embarked on a review of the case in 2010 and spent two-and-a-half years re-interviewing witnesses and reconsidering evidence. The inquiry, however, did not result in any new prosecutions. In March 2015, the government ruled out the prospect of a public inquiry. A senior barrister appointed to review the SCRT findings concluded that an inquiry was unlikely to establish the truth. Therese Flynn. Photo: Acknowledging that there were many 'disturbing' features and matters of public concern, the inquiry also pointed to serious failings by gardaí in their investigation. Judge Roe's directed acquittal was 'extraordinary', but it was within the law. The report also found no documentary evidence to substantiate claims that the judge was known to the Flynns, or to Fr Molloy. Richard Flynn's wife, Therese, died in 1993. He remarried and died in 2017. The Molloy family continue to call for a full commission of investigation. 'I want the same thing today that I have wanted for the last 40 years,' Mr Maher said. 'I want a commission of investigation. When the cold-case review was done a number of years ago a lot of the witnesses wouldn't give any additional statements. "They wouldn't really talk to them and the cold case had no powers to compel them. A commission of investigation is the only way witnesses can be compelled to talk.'
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Cops saw me being raped by illegal immigrant at 14 but arrested ME & shamed me in press as groomers abused me for years
WHEN police officers walked round the corner, as she was being raped on an industrial estate, 14-year-old Jamie Lee Jones should have felt relief that they had come to her rescue. But shockingly, instead of arresting her attacker - an illegal immigrant – they put HER in handcuffs and arrested her for prostitution. Advertisement 9 Jamie Leigh Jones was abused by grooming gangs in Oldham from age 12 Credit: Glen Minikin 9 Jamie Leigh was 12 years old when she was first raped by a groomer Credit: Glen Minikin 9 Cops published this mugshot of Jamie age 14 - knowing she was a vulnerable child who had reported multiple rapes Credit: GMP The vulnerable teenager, who have been a victim of grooming gangs from the age of 12, was labelled a sex worker, told she was 'out of control' and hauled up in court. Incredibly, Greater Manchester Police also sent her name and photo to be published across local and national media with a quote from a police chief saying: 'We will run young yobs out of town' – despite having at least two reports of rape against Jamie Leigh at the time and knowing she was classed as a vulnerable child at high risk of sexual abuse from grooming gangs. Jamie Leigh was then taken from her family and placed in care, where the abuse got worse and gangs of rapists from Oldham's Pakistani, Kurdish and Bengali communities were given free reign to continue their sickening campaign of grooming and rape until she was 18. She reported four other rapes to Greater Manchester Police from 2011 to 2015 but says 'nothing was ever done' and officers openly 'blamed her' for the sexual assaults. Advertisement Read more on grooming gangs Care home staff turned a "blind eye" to the abuse, sometimes even dropping her off to meet her abusers and buying her a McDonald's so she wouldn't tell anyone. On one occasion, she was gifted a phone by a groomer, and the next day received calls from 60 different Asian males, asking her to come 'chill' and have sex with them. Groomers would even climb through her bedroom window at the care home or pick her up and traffic her to In all, she believes she was raped and sexually abused by over 50 men aged from early 20s to 60s, over a hundred times. Advertisement Most read in The Sun Now aged 28, Jamie Leigh has bravely waived her anonymity to tell her harrowing story – which she hopes will pressure the government to deliver on their promise to hold a national enquiry into Jamie Leigh's horrific tale began when her family moved to a new area of Oldham and, not having a school place for her, the council placed her in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU). National inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal finally ordered by Keir Starmer in another Labour U-turn 'I met a girl there who was 15 years old, three year older than me, and she turned up one day with an older Asian male in the car," she says. 'He bought me cigarettes and gave me money on the first occasion. Advertisement 'The second occasion he actually rang my mum's phone because I didn't have a phone. My mum told him, 'You're a fully grown man, why are you ringing my daughter? You know how old she is'. 'So then the next time that I went out with him he bought me a phone and told me to keep it away from my mum. "He told me he was a news reporter for the local TV news and worked for the Jeremy Kyle show. It was all lies but I believed it at the time and trusted him. 'My mum gave the police his registration plates and everything but nothing happened. Advertisement 'Social services didn't do anything except blame me. They said I was an out-of-control child and that my mum needed to put her foot down. 'At the beginning my abuser was nice to me, he bought me things and then I started going around with other older Asian men with this girl. 'One night I gave my number to one Asian man and then I had around 50, 60 people ringing my phone that I didn't know and adding me on Facebook, all older Asian men. 'They were asking me to come out, chill with them, drink, smoke weed, things like that and have sex." Advertisement 9 She believes police and social services deliberately turned a blind eye to the abuse Credit: Glen Minikin 9 Jamie Leigh lost her trust in authorities after being taken from her family and put into care Credit: Glen Minikin 9 Jamie around age 12 just after she was first raped by a grooming gang member Credit: Glen Minikin Jamie Leigh was raped for the first time at 12. Advertisement 'I had actually jumped out of my abuser's moving car because he wanted to take me to Rochdale and I was scared,' she said. 'A few weeks after, he spoke to me and it started being really nice again. So I went out with him, he plied me with alcohol and raped me in his car." Within a year Jamie Leigh, who was still living at home, was being trafficked to other men. 'There was one house, when I was about 13 years old, and there was an older Asian male there. He was talking to me like I was a child - because I was a child. But he was telling me that I'd make his uncle's birthday if I were to have sex with his uncle and he'd give me money for it. Advertisement 'To be honest I was raped so many times it's hard to remember exactly how many. I know I was gang raped twice. 'I was passed around for years between older Asian men, sexually abused, sexually exploited, filled with alcohol, filled with drugs.' 'Nobody cared' Jamie Leigh's worried friends tried to intervene, telling her mum, police and social services about what was happening to her – but no action was taken against any of the men. Instead, authorities began to target Jamie Leigh. Advertisement 'They told my mum that I was a danger to my little brother and I couldn't live there anymore otherwise he'd be put in care, so I had to move out and then I was put into care,' she says. 'One day my abusers filled me with drink and I actually kicked off with the police. So I was arrested. 'Before that court date actually took place, police walked around the corner into this industrial estate and caught an illegal immigrant rapist raping me. 'I had my pants down my ankles. He was laying on top of me. His pants were down. Advertisement 'I stood up with one boot in my hand and they actually put me in handcuffs and took me to the police car, arrested me for prostitution and took me to the police station. To be honest I was raped so many times it's hard to remember exactly how many. Jamie Leigh Jones 'He wasn't arrested at the time, but they arrested me for prostitution because he told them that I took money off him, which I didn't. 'At the time I thought nothing was done to him but I found out from officers recently that he was actually an illegal immigrant and they sent him to the deportation centre. Then he was let out of the deportation centre and they have no idea where he is now. 'I was sent to court and the judge questioned social services for over an hour, telling them that I was not a danger to the public, but the public was a danger to me and that he was going to adjourn it while they sorted something out for my safety. He put me in a secure children's prison. Advertisement 'After I got to the secure unit, the judge forced them to put me into a care home. 'The judge was trying to help me, but it just got even worse. "There were men coming to the care home outside, picking us up, dropping us off every day and every night. Nobody cared.' 9 Jamie was passed around for years as a teenager Credit: Glen Minikin Advertisement Drugged and raped Jamie Leigh was plied with drugs and alcohol for years by her abusers who would pass her around to be raped, often by multiple men in one day. 'I think on a few occasions I was drugged. I lost loads of weight, I was like a rake and I looked poorly,' she says 'There was one occasion where I was in a flat and I was that drunk, I'd laid down and my head was spinning, then loads of different men were coming in the room having sex with me. 'They were all horrible to me they would spit on me and stuff. Advertisement I was passed around for years between older Asian men, sexually abused, sexually exploited, filled with alcohol, filled with drugs. Jamie Leigh Jones 'At first I thought they were my friends. I thought they cared about me and they were giving me loads of things that I never had. 'And then it turned and it started being horrible and nasty. They were telling me to bring other girls out, younger girls. I never did. 'But I know one of my friends did and she was arrested for being a perpetrator while none of the men were arrested. She was 15. 'I was groomed into just walking around the area and Asian men would just pull over and say 'Right, you coming out? You coming to chill? You coming for a drink? And I get in the car and I'd end up being raped. Advertisement 'I don't know why I got in the cars, it was just normalised at the time. I didn't know any better. I had no self esteem. 'The police, the council, social services didn't seem to see a problem with it then. 'I was so young when it started, your brain's a sponge." Jamie began to rely on alcohol, supplied by her abusers, to make her feel like she "wasn't really there." Advertisement 'A lot of times I was scared and that's why I drank so fast and I drank straight alcohol deliberately to block it out. 'When you've been raped you become scared to say no. 'Once that has happened for the first time, from that moment, you're just quiet, because you know they're going to take it anyway.' 'High risk of murder' Jamie Leigh was placed in three different care homes in Oldham, Rivendell House, and Fraser Street Children's home and Porter Street Supported Living. Advertisement 'There were always cars outside the care homes waiting for us,' she said. 'Staff knew I was high risk. They had me at high risk of being murdered but they still never tried to stop us getting into the cars. 'They did absolutely nothing. They knew what was going on. It wasn't just me, there were numerous girls and they just kept coming back absolutely obliterated after being abused. 'By the time I was 15, I had 152 missing episodes my records say. Advertisement 'But the care home staff would act like it was normal. The only time they ever did anything about it was when one of my care workers turned around and said, I needed to get an STI check because I'll end up with 'fanny rot' if I don't. 'Those were the actual words she said. 'There was an Asian man who worked at one of the care homes and he was always saying inappropriate things to the girls. 'He'd say: 'Why do you hang around with Bengalis? Why don't you hang around with us Pakistanis? Advertisement 'Sometimes he'd give us a lift to places and say, 'I shouldn't be dropping you off in Pakistani areas or Bengali areas. I shouldn't be doing this. So make sure you don't tell anyone. Here I'll buy you a McDonald's' 'Then he'd say, 'Don't tell any of the other girls' and then he'd sneak in your room to take your rubbish so no one would see it. 'He also had one of his nephews who was in his twenties come and smoke weed and offer it to the kids in the care home." 9 Jamie Leigh with her mum Louise Hopwood Credit: Glen Minikin Advertisement 9 Jamie Leigh with her mum as a teen Credit: Glen Minikin Shocking files Redacted social services documents from Jamie Leigh's file, which she has shared with The Sun, show that she was the subject of Child Sexual Exploitation Strategy and Review Meetings from as early as 2010, when she would have been aged 13. One notes shockingly: 'Although Jamie is 13, she does look older.' It adds: 'A number of Jamie's friends are already known to the [redacted] service and Jamie is aware of this, however she still chooses to place herself at risk.' Advertisement A social services form, filled out for Jamie in 2013, titled Hazard: Child Sexual Exploitation, describes Jamie at 'high' risk of sexual exploitation with the frequency listed as 'daily'. The 'risks' she faced are listed as sexual abuse, absconding, criminal record, harm to public, pregnancy and STIs and 'allegations'. Ninth on the list is 'risk of serious injury or death'. Despite the high risk of death, Jamie Leigh's 'action plan' written down by staff is woefully inadequate – including plans to get her to fill out a 'safe and well questionnaire' on her return from missing episodes. Advertisement It also states: 'Staff to discourage inappropriate friendships' – showing staff saw the older Asian men who abused her as the teen's 'friends'. 'They did nothing at the care homes, I noticed in Porter Street a few years later, which when I was 16, they started actually reporting stuff but still nothing happened to stop it,' Jamie Leigh says. 'It was there that older Asian men kept climbing into my flat window and that is recorded in my notes. Staff knew I was high risk. They had me at high risk of being murdered but they still never tried to stop us getting into the cars. Jamie Leigh Jones 'I don't know why, when I was classed as at risk they still kept putting me in these care homes where there were Asian men picking up girls. Putting all these girls that are at risk together, just causes more problems. Advertisement 'There were at least 20 girls I knew in the care homes who were being exploited.' According to Jamie Leigh's police records, which she requested, she reported rapes in 2011, 2012 and 2015. She also recalls reporting a rape at the age of 12 but no records can be found. 'Throughout that time they didn't do anything, nothing ever came of the reports I made,' Jamie Leigh said. Advertisement 'I never did a rape kit. They took my knickers from the gang rape – but nothing ever came of that. "I stopped reporting things. It just became me versus the world." Search for answers Jamie Leigh said she moved out of Oldham as soon as she turned 18. 'It was the only way to stop it,' she says. "I struggled to piece my life together, and to be honest I'm still struggling now. Advertisement 'I want answers. I think every survivor deserves answers.' Oldham Council and GMP have admitted failing Jamie Leigh, who was featured anonymously in an independent inquiry into child sex abuse in Oldham in 2022, and apologised to her. Jamie Leigh has also given evidence to Operation Sherwood, an active investigation into historic child sex abuse in Oldham. So far, 12 arrests have been made as part of the investigation but no one has yet been charged. Advertisement But to Jamie Leigh, it's too little, too late. 'I've been left with complex PTSD. I've suffered from panic attacks, nightmares. I rarely leave the house," she said. 'And I think my problems stem not just from the abuse suffered, but also the way that the services handled it and they're still handling it to this day. 'It's become this whole debate about racism when in reality, that doesn't matter. What matters is that the females and the girls that have been through these horrific things get heard. Advertisement 'I feel like people need to accept the full failings and stop denying the facts of what's happened. We can't make changes in the future if we don't go back and look into every single mistake that's happened in the past. 'Survivors should not have to be fighting now.' Jamie Leigh is now studying to be a counsellor at Open University and wants to help other survivors of abuse. Police response to Jamie's story A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police gave this statement to The Sun: 'We have fully accepted our past failings in tackling this horrific abuse and are working with a number of survivors, who have placed their faith in the GMP of today and are supporting our active retrospective investigations. 'These are long and complex investigations, but our commitment is unwavering, and we will not allow passage of time to be a hindrance. 'HMICFRS and Ofsted published a report last week highlighting significant improvements we have made in how we protect children, respond to abuse, and investigate non-recent cases of CSE. 'GMP remains focused on listening to survivors and advancing our effective practice still further. We owe it both to those abused in the past and to our children today to sustain this most pressing of priorities, and we continue to give our commitment to do just that. 'We are actively investigating and supporting Jamie as we progress her case. While we understand that the impact of her past experience cannot be undone, we are confident that victims' experiences today would be significantly improved compared to those of previous years." And she is urging other survivors and whistle blowers to come forward and share their stories. Advertisement 'I think we deserve answers after everything we've been through, after years of having to fight for what's right,' she said. 'And it's still happening. I'm getting people messaging me saying they don't know where to turn, they're not getting the right support. Children are still being blamed for being raped. 'People message me telling me it's happening to the daughters or their sister. 'One of the worst things about a woman being raped and suffering abuse like this is not being believed. Advertisement 'So when services that are supposed to help are not doing anything to help them, it's wrong. It's worse because these people should know better than abusers and rapists and child molesters. I've been left with complex PTSD. I've suffered from panic attacks, nightmares. I rarely leave the house. Jamie Leigh Jones 'Some of these people should be jailed as well because they've enabled this to happen to so many girls for so long. 'I'd love to see the officers that put me in handcuffs that day go down for a long time. 'Or at the very least be retrained because shouldn't be in the jobs if you stand with those beliefs. Advertisement 'They've been allowed to do it, while we've been as survivors, blamed for what we've been through for decades. 'It can really mess survivors and rape victims heads' up, especially children, when you say 'We're not doing anything about it? You go out and get raped. It's normal. That's your lifestyle. You're never going to amount to nothing.' 'It's wrong. It'd be different if it was their children. And I said that years ago to a police officer while it was happening. I said, 'Would you treat your children like this?' 'He said, 'My children wouldn't behave in such a way'. Advertisement Oldham Council's response to Jamie's story Oldham Council Leader, Cllr Arooj Shah said: "I want to commend Jamie Leigh for her extraordinary courage in speaking out and sharing her story. Her bravery is not only deeply moving but plays a vital role in ensuring that survivors are heard, and that real change continues to happen. "Across the country, councils, the police, and other agencies failed those affected by child sexual exploitation in the past. Oldham was no exception and we apologise again to survivors and their families. "We also recognise that these horrific crimes have not disappeared, but we are more determined than ever to root out those who abuse and exploit children. We will not rest until every child is safe and those responsible are held fully to account. "Oldham is absolutely committed to learning from the past. Thanks in no small part to the tenacity of survivors like Jamie Leigh, we are leading the way in tackling child sexual exploitation, putting survivors at the heart of our efforts, and doing everything in our power to ensure the mistakes of the past are never repeated. "We welcome both local and national inquiries, and we are clear that survivors must be at the centre of this process. Their voices are essential to building a safer future for every child." 'I feel like all survivors need a massive apology from Keir Starmer for starters, for the system, for being ignored and now for having to fight for what's right. 'I want the truth to come out because we've spent years of not being believed and that's horrible. I want people to be questioned and I want answers.' In response to Jamie's story, Greater Manchester Police said it had "fully accepted our past failings in tackling this horrific abuse" and it was "actively investigating" the case. Oldham Council added: "Oldham is absolutely committed to learning from the past. Thanks in no small part to the tenacity of survivors like Jamie-Leigh, we are leading the way in tackling child sexual exploitation, putting survivors at the heart of our efforts, and doing everything in our power to ensure the mistakes of the past are never repeated." Advertisement
