12 August 2023 , 17:10
1153
0
Rotherham grooming gang survivor Sammy Woodhouse still has a criminal record two decades after her abuser turned her into a lawless teenager.
The 38-year-old mum-of-two says she was coerced into committing offences by grooming gang ringleader Arshid “Mad Ash” Hussain, who was jailed for 35 years in 2016. Hussain, then aged 24, started abusing Sammy when she was just 14 – forcing her to be his driver in a drug war and making her hide weapons.
He raped her and beat her on a daily basis, and made her have an abortion after getting her pregnant at 14. And Sammy says she is still being punished for what he did to her – after finding the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) still lists a conviction for actual bodily harm from a brawl she had aged 15.
Sammy Woodhouse victim of sexual abuse and grooming in Rotherham (Daily Mirror)
She is campaigning for a law change (MDM)She said: “I got into a fight with a girl at school saying stuff about the abortion. “It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been exploited. It wasn’t in my nature to commit a crime. It feels like I’ve got a life sentence and I’m being constantly blamed. “I was so angry when I saw it… I’m 38 now.”
Sammy believes thousands of victims have been left with criminal records – after being forced by groomers to commit crimes as a way to control them, making them feel they cannot go to the police. Hussain, who was jailed for 23 offences against nine girls, made her his getaway driver on her 15th birthday, telling her to sit in the car with a police scanner while he raided the homes of rival drug dealers. He also forced her to conceal his weapons, including a baton police found in her handbag.
Teen 'kept as slave, starved and beaten' sues adoptive parents and authorities
Sammy still has a criminal record two decades laterSammy said: “I never committed a crime before I met Hussain. “I went from being a girl who was winning dancing gold medals to a girl with a gun.” Since 2017 she has called for the Government to wipe the slate clean for child sex abuse victims forced into crime.
Her plea for a “Sammy’s Law” is backed by police chiefs, former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield, and MPs including Labour’s Jess Phillips. Ms Phillips, Shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, said: “I absolutely support Sammy. I’m as horrified as her that the Government has dragged its feet and failed so many.”
Her campaign has been backed by shadow minister for domestic violence Jess Phillips (PA)Sammy, who still lives in the South Yorkshire town, got her enhanced DBS after going for a job in a care home. She said: “It’s disgusting that victims are still being punished. I know people who went for a job were asked about their record, and had to explain they were abused. It’s not nice.”