This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The chief constable of Greater Manchester police has criticised the Times for describing Rochdale as a “sex grooming town” in a report on the murder of a former imam.

In an open letter to the newspaper’s editor, which he posted on Twitter, Ian Hopkins said the wording of the headline had appalled him and that it could cause community tension.

He demanded an immediate apology for the headline “Imam beaten to death in sex grooming town” on the online report into the death of Jalal Uddin, 64. Uddin was found dead in a playground on Thursday. He had suffered a serious head injury.

The chief constable said in the letter that he had received feedback from communities in Rochdale expressing their outrage at the use of the phrase.

Hopkins wrote: “Clearly, horrific murders such as this have the potential to undermine community confidence and create tension between different parts of the community. Your headline and its irrelevance to this case has the potential to cause community tension. It is also offensive to the thousands of peaceful, law-abiding Muslims and non-Muslims living in Rochdale, who are shocked by this murder.”

He added that the police remained open-minded about the circumstances of the murder and that, although they had not ruled out that it may have been racially motivated, there was no evidence to suggest that it was.

CC Ian Hopkins (@CCIanHopkins) A copy of my open letter to the editor of The Times @siemaiqbal @RochdaleCoM @RochdaleCouncil @GMPCC @akhanmep pic.twitter.com/7oGnOa4CCA

Uddin was bludgeoned to death after attending evening prayers at a mosque in Rochdale and eating a meal at a friend’s house. His body was found by a passerby and police are examining CCTV footage that shows three men running near the scene of the crime shortly afterwards.

Police are keeping open the possibility that Bangladeshi-born Uddin was the victim of a hate crime. The men in the CCTV images are wearing hoodies and their ages and ethnicity are unclear. A 31-year-old man arrested on Friday was released on Saturday and has been ruled out of police inquiries.

Muslim leaders call for calm after suspected murder of Rochdale imam Read more

A statement from Greater Manchester police’s Rochdale North team read: “Following the death of a male, who had been found with serious injuries at Wardleworth on Thursday 18 February, a 31-year-old male was arrested and interviewed by Greater Manchester police.



“This male has now been completely eliminated from inquiries and it is confirmed has had no involvement whatsoever in the tragic death of the deceased. Specialist resources from the major incident team have been tasked with the continued investigation.”

Simon Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale, supported Hopkins’s view on the Times headline and accused the newspaper of conflating Uddin’s faith and his death with past child abuse scandals in the town.

Simon Danczuk (@SimonDanczuk) This is an awful headline, I hope @thetimes can apologise to Mr Uddin's family and, indeed, the people of Rochdale. pic.twitter.com/8aZzJyrKnx

Danczuk said: “There’s nothing, from what I’ve heard, to suggest any connection between child grooming and this death. This is some of the worst journalism I’ve ever seen – it’s Islamophobic.”

After the murder, local religious leaders called for calm, urging the community to allow police to do their work and not to speculate on what prompted the attack.



Uddin, whose family is believed to be in Bangladesh, was assaulted between 8.40pm and 8.55pm on Thursday. It is believed he was taking a shortcut through the playground on his way home from a friend’s house.

He was well known locally, and acted as a Qari, a reciter of the Koran, at the Jalalia Jaame Masjid mosque in Rochdale.

The Times did not respond to a request for comment.