When Sadiq Khan claimed that his city does not have the same grooming gang culture seen in other cities and towns across the UK, it caused anger and incredulity in many quarters.
But few can have been as disturbed by the London Mayor’s self-vindicating claim as Finella Mackrodt – who remains haunted by the loss of her daughter Jasmine, who took her own life at 17.
Because Ms Mackrodt believes that her daughter’s suicide was a direct consequence of the sexualised grooming she was subjected to by organised gangs which began when she was barely out of primary school.
