A survivor of childhood grooming has won a landmark case against her abuser at the British High Court, setting a precedent for future payouts, GB News reports. The High Court awarded £425,000 in damages to an anonymous victim simply known as “Liz” after the court ruled that the legal system treated her abuser too leniently.
Liz experienced abuse at age 14 at the hands of Asghar Bostan while imprisoned in his flat for ten weeks in the English town of Rotherham. Bostan was jailed for nine years at Sheffield Crown Court in 2018 for abusing a minor and coercing Liz by using drugs.
Authorities had previously apologised to Liz after Bostan was released in 2022 after serving half his service. Bostan spent most of his sentence in an open prison without Liz being informed.
Liz was given financial support to pursue the case by the free speech advocacy group ‘Hearts of Oak,’ with assistance also provided by right-wing British Lords, Lord Pearson and Lord Vinson.
In the past decade, British society has had to face up to an endemic abuse of working-class English girls by men of Pakistani origin, with the town of Rotherham becoming synonymous with the phenomenon. A 2014 report revealed that at least 1,400 children had been sexually exploited in Rotherham despite only having a population of 250,000, with authorities accused of having a relaxed attitude to the abuse for fears of stoking community tensions.
In a statement, Liz described how her childhood had been “destroyed” by the abuse but that the ruling had given her hope for the future. Her solicitor Robin Tilbrook aired his belief that Liz’s ruling could trigger similar cases by survivors.
We have broken the ice with this case. Hundreds of rapists have been convicted during the national grooming gangs catastrophe, and they could all now face civil litigation for the damages they have caused.
British authorities have been repeatedly accused of complicity in the abuse of vulnerable children by Pakistani grooming gangs. Last month a senior detective and whistleblower reported that abuse was still prevalent despite attempted crackdowns.
Perhaps too little too late for individual victims, the ruling still illustrates a potential legal route for some survivors let down by the court system, albeit without questioning larger issues at play.
