, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy RobinsonThe child abuse scandal in Telford, Shropshire, rocked the country to its core when the scale of the horror was revealed. Over a 30-year period, more than 1,000 young people were groomed and raped – with a recent report finding victims were systematically failed by police and other authorities. But, as a new book reveals, the survivors' suffering didn't end there, with members of far-right groups trying to hijack their experiences for their own ends. Among them is Stephen Lennon – otherwise known as Tommy Robinson – whose film series The Rape of Britain sought to exploit the case to promote his own anti-Muslim rhetoric. While it would be easy to say Lennon should be ignored, his dangerous activities need to be explored in the cold light of day, which is why we are serialising the new book Tommy: Politics. Drugs. Sex. Money., by Nick Lowles. Investigative journalist Lowles has spent years looking into Lennon's vile activities. Here, in the first part of our extract from his book, he says Lennon 'zeroed in' on the Telford case and details how two of the right-wing leader's followers even began relationships with some of those affected. Both of the men who slept with women involved in the scandal that struck the town of Telford have serious criminal records... Lennon and his cronies took up with the cause in the guise of offering help to the victims ( PA) While Stephen Lennon had spoken out regularly about grooming gangs for several years, he had never systematically worked with sex abuse survivors on an ongoing basis. This changed in early autumn 2018. The far right had zeroed in on Telford for several years, hoping to highlight and exploit the unfolding tragedy f){kind=link}
A new book, Tommy: Politics. Drugs. Sex. Money, by investigative journalist Nick Lowles, reveals how far-right groups tried to hijack Telford survivors’ experiences for their own ends
The child abuse scandal in Telford, Shropshire, rocked the country to its core when the scale of the horror was revealed.
Over a 30-year period, more than 1,000 young people were groomed and raped â with a recent report finding victims were systematically failed by police and other authorities.
But, as a new book reveals, the survivors’ suffering didn’t end there, with members of far-right groups trying to hijack their experiences for their own ends.
Among them is Stephen Lennon â otherwise known as Tommy Robinson â whose film series The Rape of Britain sought to exploit the case to promote his own anti-Muslim rhetoric.