“She was groomed in plain sight” — A Hyde father’s harrowing fight to protect his daughter 

As the UK begins a national inquiry into grooming gangs, Marlon West tells the heartbreaking story of how his daughter Scarlett was failed by those meant to protect her and the devastating consequences. 

When Marlon West bought his 13-year-old daughter a horse, he didn’t know he was trying to save her life. Scarlett, a bright, happy student at Blue Coat School in Oldham, spent most of her childhood with horses. “She was a homebird,” he says. “She didn’t go out much, the stables were her world.” 

But in the space of just a few years, Scarlett’s life was taken apart by grooming gangs and the authorities who failed to intervene. “I bought her that horse to keep her off the streets,” Marlon says. “It financially crucified me. But I never thought I’d be fighting to keep her alive a few years later.” 

Scarlett waived her anonymity at age 18 years old to tell her story.

The night it started: 

It began in Hyde on Halloween night, 2018. Scarlett and a friend were out trick-or-treating, waiting to be picked up from Hyde bus station when they were attacked by a gang of around 17 youths. “They were already known to police,” Marlon says. “There’d been newspaper reports about them. They bullied Scarlett, and at one point they put a knife to Scarlett’s throat. They tried to set her on fire.” 

Despite charges against some members of the group, the intimidation didn’t stop. “What I didn’t know at the time,” Marlon adds, “was that Scarlett started spending time with them to stop the bullying. That’s how they pulled her in.” 

From there, the signs came quickly. She stopped visiting her horse. She started coming home late. Then she stopped coming home at all. 

Marlon did what any parent would. He called the police. He flagged her behaviour to social services. He reported her missing  about 130 times. 

“I reported her missing every time she didn’t come home by 11pm. But instead of helping, police told me to stop reporting her. They started closing the cases the next morning even if she hadn’t been found.” 

Scarlett, by then 14, was being groomed by an older woman in her early 20s who supplied drugs to the same gang that had attacked her. “That woman befriended Scarlett and from there, the grooming really began,” Marlon says.  

“She’d come home smelling of cannabis. She’d have money she couldn’t explain. She was gone for whole weekends. But the authorities refused to see it.” 

Marlon told the Reporter that Tameside social services told him Scarlett was simply making “lifestyle choices.” 

“I sat in meetings where I was told I wasn’t allowed to stop my daughter leaving the house at 2am. She was 14, in full makeup, heading to God-knows-where.” 

Eventually, after realising he couldn’t keep her safe, Marlon made the devastating decision to place Scarlett in care. “I truly believed she’d be safer there,” he says. “But I didn’t know the groomers were still in touch with her through social media.” 

Trafficked across the UK 

After leaving care at 16, Scarlett was back to going missing for days, sometimes weeks at a time. What Marlon later discovered was that she was being trafficked across the country, taken to cities she couldn’t name, and raped by adult men many decades older. 

“She was found, just before her 17th birthday, in a house in Rochdale with several adult men. Since then, she’s told me she was raped by over 60 men in total. She was a child. A child. And she was treated like she was nothing.” 

“I blame the system more than the groomers” 

Despite everything, Marlon’s anger is directed less at the perpetrators than at the institutions that failed to act. 

“I speak to families all over the country. They all say the same thing: It wasn’t just the groomers. It was the police. The social workers. The schools. The people whose job it was to protect our kids, and they didn’t.” 

Marlon believes police forces deliberately closed missing persons reports early to reduce recorded numbers. “They weren’t even doing welfare checks. And social workers? They denied she was being groomed until it was too late. They said it was her choice.” 

A national inquiry  

Last week, the government announced a UK-wide public inquiry into grooming gangs. The inquiry will examine how child sexual exploitation was enabled and covered up across England, with statutory powers to compel police and local authorities to cooperate. 

It’s something Marlon has campaigned for over two years. He’s met with senior politicians, but he remains wary. 

“I welcome it, but only if it’s truly independent. It can’t be led by local councils, they’ve already shown they’ll cover things up. And it must have statutory powers. Without those, police can refuse to hand over evidence. This can’t be another failed report.” 

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative party (left), Marlon West (middle), Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary for the Conservative party (right).

“It can happen to anyone” 

Marlon is determined to challenge the myths around grooming. “People think it only happens to kids in care, or so-called problem families. But Scarlett went to a top school. I’m a nurse. Another mum I know, her daughter was groomed, she’s a headteacher.” 

He adds: “Groomers don’t care who your parents are. If your child fits the profile, they’ll take them. Public attitudes need to change. These kids aren’t ‘delinquents’, they’re victims of serious organised crime.” 

The long road ahead 

Scarlett is now 20. The abuse has ended, but the trauma hasn’t. “I used to have a daughter I couldn’t keep in the house,” Marlon says. “Now I’ve got one who’s too afraid to leave it.” 

“She suffers from complex PTSD, paranoia, insomnia, and nightmares. She has no independence. She’s not a survivor,” Marlon says. “She’s still living it every day. She’s a prisoner in her own home.” 

“It should never have got this far” 

What hurts Marlon most is knowing that so much of what happened could have been prevented, if only someone had listened. 

“All the red flags were there. I raised them. I begged for help. And I was ignored. Scarlett was failed by every institution that should have protected her.” 

Now, he hopes the national inquiry can bring some measure of justice, not just for Scarlett, but for thousands of children like her across the UK. 

“She wasn’t just my daughter. She was a child in this country. And we let her down.” 

Marlon wants to work together with local authorities to move forward and would welcome a meeting with Jill Colbert OBE, the new director of children’s services at Tameside Council. 

Greater Manchester Police response 

A spokesperson from Greater Manchester Police said: “We have met with the family and are conducting an extensive investigation into their allegations. 

"These are subject to ongoing investigations so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage. 

“Child protection is the priority for the GMP of today and our approach to protecting victims and pursuing perpetrators has significantly improved. 

"We are committed to getting justice for victims, and our progress has been recognised in a recent report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), who found us good and adequate in all areas of child protection.” 

Tameside Council response 

A Tameside Council spokesperson said: “While we cannot comment on any individual cases, we are working with partners to address any learning from the Baird enquiry. We’re fully cooperating with Greater Manchester’s Independent Sexual Exploitation Review. We support victims/survivors from any time, and we will work with them to access specialist services as appropriate. 

“Our safeguarding work around CSE was positively highlighted by Ofsted, and the children’s commissioner described our contextual safeguarding service as a “beacon of good practice”. However, as a learning organisation we recognise there is more for us to do. 

“We are working with our partners to continue to build on the good work, sharpening our response to provide the best possible service to keep children safe. We are always happy to work directly with families and our partners to discuss any feedback and explore where our services can be further improved.” 

If you or someone you know is affected by child exploitation, contact the NSPCC at 0808 800 5000. 

Marlon on the panel at a press conference amid the grooming gang report.