Girl, 12, was repeatedly raped after police ignored her pleas as the report revealed flaws

The girl, identified only as Sophie, was abused after “significant opportunities” were missed to protect her when the incident happened in 2006

A damning new report has revealed how a 12-year-old girl was repeatedly raped by different men hours after police ignored her calls for help.

The girl, identified only as Sophie, was abused after “significant opportunities” were missed to protect her when the incident happened in 2006.

After being molested in a churchyard, the teenager went to Oldham Police Station in Manchester hoping officers would bring her attackers to justice.

Instead, her plea for help was ignored and she was turned away for being “drunk” and a time waster.

In a devastating twist, the girl was picked up outside the police station by two other vile sex offenders, who raped her in their vehicle before taking her to a home – where she was the victim of several more assaults.

The refusal to help set off a devastating chain of events that saw her suffer more than 20 sexual assaults by eight men that night in October 2006, including 15 rapes.

Details of the horrific incident have been released in a new report, authored by renowned childcare expert Malcolm Newsam and former detective superintendent Gary Ridgeway, reviewing allegations of sexual exploitation in Oldham.

Commissioned by Oldham Council in 2019, it investigated the way authorities dealt with child sexual exploitation between 2011 and 2014, as well as a specific case from 2005.

It was launched on the back of allegations on social media that have garnered a large following and have begun to have a significant impact on Oldham’s politics.

Investigators looked into alleged child care in public housing, hookah bars and taxi drivers in the area.

Despite “legitimate concerns” from the police and the far-right council exploiting the issue of grooming by predominantly Pakistani men, authorities in the city, which suffered from race riots in 2001, have not hesitated to address the issue, the report said Report .

Both Oldham Council and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) should apologize for their mistakes after they were “more concerned about covering up their mistakes” than admitting they took no action, the document concluded.

The Oldham report follows an earlier damning report which focused on grooming gangs in Manchester and said victims had been abandoned by police and local authorities in the city.

Maggie Oliver, former GMP detective-turned-whistleblower, said: “Another day, another report of a police force’s failure to protect the most vulnerable in our society, even when there is irrefutable evidence to prosecute criminals and to protect children.

“This report once again clearly demonstrates catastrophic mistakes by the force and their repeated attempts to cover up and hide those mistakes from both the victims and the public they serve, and that is extremely concerning.”

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “This report continues the process of spotlighting past failures in Greater Manchester.

“There were serious mistakes and the victims were disappointed, especially Sophie.

“While there has been no evidence of a cover-up, we must not be afraid to acknowledge shortcomings.”

One of the girl’s perpetrators, Shakil Chowdhury, now 55, was caught and jailed after the horrific ordeal.

He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2007 but refused to name any accomplices.

Adding to the horror, the victim told professionals earlier in the year that she was being cared for by teacher Paul Waites but was dismissed as “attention-seeking”.

Waites, 49, was jailed for rape in 2015 and is now serving life for similar assaults on another girl.

The victim said: “An apology will never suffice. You have destroyed my life.”