'˜My daughter has been let down and used as a political football'

The mum of a primary school girl whose alleged sex abuse started a taxi licensing investigation at South Ribble Council has spoken out for the first time.
South Ribble Council Civic Centre, LeylandSouth Ribble Council Civic Centre, Leyland
South Ribble Council Civic Centre, Leyland

The girl – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – was mentioned in an interim report into the scandal, leaked to the press in April.

Read more on the scandal here:

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The driver accused of abusing her was allowed to keep his private hire badge for 10 months while on bail.

The case was not brought to court because of the girl’s age, but the driver has since had all of his taxi licences revoked.

A fact-finding mission after concerns were raised lead to the uncovering of a number of serious failings in the department, with two licensing officers being suspended.

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Now the monitoring officer who instigated the investigation has also been suspended.

The girl’s mum believes the case has been used as a “political football”.

She said: “Since the story broke it’s been repeated in the press. There’s talk about the council leader, leader of the opposition, Paul Foster, and all these councillors calling for others to resign. My daughter’s case is being used as a bat and ball – all blaming each other whilst I’ve not even had an apology.”

She added: “I feel like I’ve been let down by every single agency. I’ve had nothing from the council. And everyone I’ve been dealing with has been suspended or has resigned.”

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When the news of the secret report came to public attention, the mum said it brought back details of the case she had tried to move on from, and for which her daughter has had therapy.

The mum said: “I thought that when he had his badges revoked I had a little bit of closure. But when I went in newsagents it was all over the papers, when it was on ITV I had 15 texts in a minute, and I couldn’t have the radio on in the car because I didn’t want my daughter hearing it.”

She also claims she has been let down by councillors who promised she would be involved in a scrutiny review into the department problems.

She said: “The councillors all said I would be part of the scrutiny review and they would contact me, but I’ve never heard. I emailed in and had no reply. I feel like they’re trying to keep me out of it.”

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Seema Kennedy, MP for South Ribble said: “I immediately wrote to the council to raise the matter and shared her concerns with the police. I am sorry she is disappointed that the process is going slowly but I have made representations on her behalf and await responses.”

Interim leader of the council, Coun Colin Clark, said: “The council takes any allegation relating to the conduct of a licensed taxi driver extremely seriously.

“That is why, as soon as concerns were raised about our Licensing Service, we acted swiftly and commissioned an external report by an independent firm of solicitors. We have implemented all of its recommendations and have checked and double-checked the licence of every single taxi driver licensed by South Ribble Borough Council.

“To ensure that no stone is left unturned, a special task group from our Scrutiny Committee is also undertaking a full review of how the council has handled the investigation. This will allow us to learn valuable lessons for the future. The findings of this thorough review will be made available to the public in full.”

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