‘One of the greatest’
Andrew Norfolk, the journalist who uncovered the Rotherham grooming gang scandal, has died.
Norfolk, who worked for The Times, died after suffering ill health at the age of 60.
Back in 2011, his reporting exposed a number of young, mainly white, teenage girls, who had been groomed by men of predominantly Pakistani heritage, reports the BBC.
It then led to an inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the area.
The inquiry concluded that an estimated 1,400 children had been sexually exploited between 1997 and 2013.
Keir Starmer led tributes to Norfolk saying: “He wasn’t just an incredibly talented reporter, at The Times and elsewhere, he was driven by the desire to call our attention to injustice and protect the most vulnerable.
“His passion for supporting the victims of grooming gangs shone through, and he was absolutely integral to making sure we could change the rules to increase convictions of the vile perpetrators.”
Editor of The Times, Tony Gallagher, added that Norfolk was ‘without doubt, one of the greatest investigative reporters of our or any age’.
He explained: “His tireless work exposing the evils of the predominantly Asian grooming gangs in and around towns in the north of England led to long overdue acknowledgement of the crimes, after the people who had been in a position to put a stop to it for years chose to look the other way.”
