Police boss 'must quit over abuse' in English town
South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner (PCC) Shaun Wright should quit following the “devastating” report into child abuse in Rotherham, the UK's Labour Party has said.
Mr Wright was the Labour council cabinet member responsible for children’s services in Rotherham from 2005 to 2010, in the middle of a 16-year period when, according to a report released yesterday, 1,400 youngsters suffered wide-scale sexual exploitation including gang rapes, grooming and trafficking.
He apologised to victims of abuse today and insisted he had no knowledge of the scale of the problem when he was a councillor in the South Yorkshire town.
But the Labour Party said today he should step down from his post as PCC following the publication of the damning report into the scandal.
A Labour spokesman said: “The report into child abuse in Rotherham was devastating in its findings. Vulnerable children were repeatedly abused and then let down.
“In the light of this report, it is appropriate that South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright should step down.”
