{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreia2hg6evcq3iozmnj2zpqyv7n3ihnb23kgebmxxvq7he7w23rhmei",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:oznbnvgr7dmvddiyvr7dih52/app.bsky.feed.post/3mplesnvwvem2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreidnwunyc4ze56zwyy5h63ynecnn33g3ilbmyuqy4r4entezmpbxum"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/webp",
    "size": 21046
  },
  "path": "/opinion/grooming-gangs-katie-lam-jake-richards",
  "publishedAt": "2026-07-01T10:39:09.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Membership",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nThis week, Parliament debated the early release of rapists and child groomers from prison.\n\nIt’s appalling that this subject was even up for discussion.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIt’s clearly true that those who’ve committed such heinous crimes should, at the very least, serve out their full prison sentences.\n\nBut under this Government’s prison plans, vile criminals like these are having their sentences cut short.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThey’re being allowed back onto the streets after just a few years behind bars.\n\nThis includes those who were involved in the rape and grooming gangs, which terrorised so many communities across the country and which committed the most despicable acts of abuse against thousands of children.\n\nFiona Goddard, a grooming gang survivor who has spoken about the abuse that she faced in Bradford, recently received a letter telling her that the men convicted of abusing her could be eligible for early release.\n\nThey were sentenced to between 16 and 20 years in prison in 2019; now, just a few years later, the hard-won justice that she secured in court is being snatched away from her.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe sentences that many grooming gang offenders receive are already far too short.\n\nIn June, twenty perpetrators were convicted of the rape and abuse of three girls in West Yorkshire, between 1995 and 2003.\n\nOne of the girls was just 12 years old when this gang began to prey on her.\n\nAbbas Kaji, one of the offenders, was sentenced to just seven years for rape; Mohammed Ishtiaq Hussain was sentenced to just eight.\n\nThe idea that these men could be out on the streets even sooner is appalling.\n\nIn light of this remarkable injustice and the clear risk to the public of letting men like this onto the streets, my Conservative colleague Kieran Mullan called on the Justice Secretary, David Lammy, to explain himself in Parliament.\n\nHe didn’t show up. Instead, he sent one of his junior ministers, Jake Richards.\n\nAnd when I asked that minister whether grooming gang offenders would, at least, serve the entirety of their already too-short sentences, he wouldn’t even commit to that.\n\nIn fact, he seemed to suggest that we should be grateful that these men are serving time in prison at all because of a lack of prison places.\n\nWhat planet are these people living on?\n\nEven if we’re facing a shortage of prison places, how can it possibly be the case that grooming gang perpetrators aren’t amongst the highest priority offenders for the places that we do have?\n\nEnsuring that these vile men serve out their sentences isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the bare minimum.\n\nMany Labour MPs still don’t seem to have grasped just how horrific these crimes were and just how dangerous the men who committed them are.\n\nIt’s terrifying that people like this are in charge of making decisions about who goes to prison, who stays there, and for how long – and it’s no surprise that people across the country have no confidence in this Government’s ability to keep the public safe.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "I confronted Labour on grooming gang rapists being released from prison. Their answer should terrify you"
}