Over the last few years a new form of ring theory has arisen. Mostly centred on British Pakistanis, young girls have been found to be sexually exploited by older boys and men.
In some cases these offences are connected to drug-dealing and organised crime. There is no doubt that many girls, often in care with chaotic backgrounds, were sexually available for exploitation at an age when they should have been protected. However just how organised and extreme the exploitation was in individual cases is open to question.
With juries now told that inconsistencies and lies may be a product of trauma, there is a real danger that a false stereotype might emerge in the grooming cases. And with large numbers of victims being speculated in reports, significant injustice to defendants may result.