Amber Rudd has warned that “political and cultural sensitivities” must not be allowed to deter work on uncovering child sex abuse. The home secretary spoke following the convictions of 17 men and one woman two days ago for the sexual abuse of underage girls in Newcastle upon Tyne. Her intervention came as the attorney-general faced calls to review the sentences of several members of the Tyneside gang after it emerged that the apparently racially-aggravated nature of their crimes was not reflected in their punishment. Mike Penning, a former policing minister, said he had written to the attorney-general Jeremy Wright questioning whether the incident should be treated as “a race-hate crime”. Ms Rudd described the Newcastle trials as “an abhorrent case of sexual predators preying on…

Source: The Times August 11, 2017 10:52 UTC