North Wales grooming gang convictions spark fresh calls for Wales-wide inquiry

Emily Price 

The conviction of members of a child sexual exploitation network in north Wales has reignited calls for a Wales-specific inquiry into grooming gangs.

A total of five defendants were convicted at Caernarfon Crown Court on Monday (August 3) following a major child sexual exploitation investigation led by North Wales Police.

The convictions related to the exploitation and abuse of three teenage girls in Rhyl and the surrounding area between April 2022 and March 2024.

The victims, who were aged between 14 and 16 at the time, were subjected to offences in cars, at residential addresses and on business premises in the Denbighshire area.

During a three-month trial, the court heard evidence of rape, sexual assault, child sexual exploitation, modern day slavery offences, drug supply, and attempts to obstruct justice.

All offences were reviewed by North Wales Police detectives as part of linked investigations named Operation Embank and Operation Zirconium, which targeted those involved in child sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Each of the defendants had denied the charges brought against them at court and maintained their innocence throughout proceedings.

Following a unanimous jury verdict in court, Mustafa Iqbal, Mohamed Usman Arshad, Ziaullah Badshah and Jaswinder Singh were found guilty of multiple offences including rape, sexual assault, conspiracy to traffic and conspiracy to require a person to perform compulsory labour.

A woman, 53-year old Sarah Gray, was also charged with multiple offences for her role in the organised group.

She was found guilty of perverting the course of justice, assisting an offender, conspiracy to supply cocaine to another and conspiracy to supply cannabis to another.

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar said the case provided “further evidence” that organised child sexual exploitation and grooming gang activity has been taking place in Wales.

He said: “I welcome today’s guilty verdicts and pay tribute to the extraordinary courage of the young victims who came forward to give evidence. Those responsible for these appalling crimes must now receive the punishment they deserve.

“This case provides yet further evidence that organised child sexual exploitation and grooming gang activity has been taking place in Wales.

“I have been warning for more than 18 months that we need action to protect vulnerable children from such heinous activity, yet some sought to dismiss my concerns.

“Today’s verdicts in relation to Rhyl cannot be treated as an isolated case.”

Mt Millar has previously made several urgent calls for a Wales-specific inquiry into grooming gangs, separate from the UK Government’s statutory independent inquiry launched by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last year.

The UK-wide inquiry will examine incidents of child sexual exploitation in both Wales and England, with the first investigations focusing on Oldham, Bradford, Keighley and London.

However, Mr Millar argues that a Wales-specific inquiry would examine the actions of public bodies in Wales and identify any missed opportunities to intervene, including by local authorities, schools, social services and the Welsh NHS.

The previous Labour-led Welsh Government declined to support a Wales-wide inquiry, saying it had received formal assurances from all four Welsh police forces that there was no evidence of widespread, systemic grooming gang activity in Wales on the scale seen in some English towns.

In February 2025, the Senedd debated a motion tabled by the Welsh Conservatives who called on Labour Welsh ministers to immediately commission an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs based in Wales.

Members rejected the motion and instead unanimously backed a Plaid Cymru amended motion, which required the Welsh Government to consider an inquiry only after reviewing an audit of local police evidence.

It followed calls from grooming gang survivor Emily Vaughn – not her real name – for an investigation into the extent of the problem in Wales.

Emily was raped over 1000 times after she was trafficked from south Wales to Telford when she was a child.

She was one of the victims of child sexual exploitation and trafficking who took part in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, also known as the Jay Report, a decade ago.

The seven year probe, which concluded in 2022, gathered evidence of how children were being sexually abused in Wales and England.

It found that the current system is fundamentally flawed and unable to protect vulnerable children at risk of being groomed, coerced and threatened.

Emily has tirelessly campaigned for a fresh inquiry that focuses solely on Wales.

Mr Millar said: “We have seen major police investigations into alleged organised child sexual exploitation in other parts of Wales and brave victims like Emily Vaughn have spoken about their experiences.

“Victims deserve to know that every lesson will be learned and that no institution or public body will be beyond scrutiny.

“That is why I am again calling for a Wales-wide public inquiry into grooming gangs to establish the full scale of this problem. Victims deserve nothing less.”

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