A mother has told how she questioned her own sanity as she begged social workers and police for years to help stop her daughter from being repeatedly sexually abused.

In the end she feared the girl was at as big a risk from social workers as she was from the gang who groomed her.

The woman would often spend her nights searching the streets of Oxford for her missing daughter because the police and social services would not.

Den of horror: A room in an Oxford guest house where underage victims of the gang were abused

But the victim, who was groomed, drugged and sold into abuse more than 150 times, says social workers saw her as a nuisance and treated her like a piece of meat rather than a child being abused.

Her mother, now in her 60s, adopted her from a life of physical and sexual abuse when the girl was 11. But she struggled to get on at secondary school and was expelled at 12.

She soon fell into the grip of the grooming gang and would regularly go missing.

Yet her mother said social workers were unwilling to acknowledge the problem and help.

She said: ‘It was an absolute nightmare. It got me doubting my own sanity. The whole world was turned upside down. Everything that I thought should be happening was not.

‘All of the way along [social workers] were more of a hindrance and a problem than a help. At the time I didn’t know whether she was more at risk with the men or social services.’

The woman, who cannot be named, said she first asked for help in 2004 but social services refused to act because her daughter was not originally from the Oxford area.

Abuse: An estimated 373 girls, mainly from Oxford, pictured, were groomed, raped and sometimes forced into 'sex slavery' by gangs over the last 15 years, a damning report revealed

Her pleas for help were met with no empathy from ‘robot’ social workers, she said.

‘She was going missing more and more. When they did decide to get involved all they did was take her into care and send her to outside the county.’

Her daughter was sent to a Devon children’s home, away from her family and friends, where she was trafficked to London to meet strangers for sex.

They couldn't have cared less

The mother said: ‘Nobody was there looking after her. The home was utterly clueless.’

But social services told the girl they would take her away from her mother or take her to a secure unit if she did not stop misbehaving, she said.

‘They just couldn’t have cared less. I didn’t feel like we were dealing with human beings. They were cold, they were not interested.

‘They had no skills in communicating with young people.

‘They could not begin to understand what was going on with these girls.

‘Along the way we didn’t meet many evil people, just a lot of ignorance, arrogance and complacency.’ Her daughter admitted she was a difficult teenager but social workers had no idea how to deal with her.

The victim said: ‘I felt like a piece of meat when it came to social services. They said I had an anger problem but it was because they said I was worthless and should be left it care.

‘They were vile. I was nothing. They didn’t want me in their county. I was a problem.

‘They said I should never have been adopted when I actually hadn’t done anything wrong – I was the one being let down.

‘They told me I was a nuisance. If they had seen me as a person who was obviously hurting, things would have been a lot different.

‘I was nothing to anyone apart from my mum and a few police officers. Then I saw myself like that. They set me up to fail.

‘All I wanted was for people to prove I was not nothing. They did not want even to remotely try to understand. Not at all.’

'I TURNED UP AT THE POLICE STATION, BLOOD ALL OVER ME. THEY DISMISSED IT AS ME BEING 'NAUGHTY'': VICTIMS DESCRIBE THE ABUSE IN THEIR OWN WORDS AND HOW THE AUTHORITIES IGNORED THEM Today's report contains testimony from some of the hundreds of girls who were abused by paedophiles in Oxford. These are excerpts from their evidence: I was found in the presence of the men constantly. Why were they not pulled in?

If a perpetrator can spot the vulnerable children, why can't professionals?

Social workers asked me questions which showed they knew

Why would a 13-year-old make it up? They didn't stop to think 'why?'

The social worker just wanted to hear what [the worker] wanted to hear so there was no need to do anything

No one believes me, no one cares. They knew where I was, they didn't care when I came back I couldn't sleep or eat

The Police never asked me why – they just took me home

I made a complaint about a man who trafficked me from a children's home. He was arrested, released and trafficked me again

If someone had taken the trouble to ask me I would have told them. Oxford and another council argued about me to try and avoid doing anything. It wasn't my fault I was abused

I turned up at the police station at 2/3am, blood all over me, soaked through my trousers to the crotch. They dismissed it as me being naughty, a nuisance. I was bruised and bloody

Social services washed their hands – 'it's your choice' I was told

A WPC found me drunk with men. I said I was ok and she went away and left me with them. I was abused that night

She did speak to the police. It meant I was whacked around the head with a crowbar

I thought if I told the police what was really happening they would not believe me

They threatened to blow up my house with my mum in it

I was expected to do things - if I didn't they said they would come to my house and burn me alive. I had a baby brother

I wouldn’t ever have said no – they’d have beaten the s*** out of me

Social Services knew what was going on – they always asked questions that showed that they knew

They left you in a house with Asian men and didn't even ask my age

I made a complaint about a man who trafficked me from a children’s home. He was arrested, released and trafficked me again

They knew where I was, they didn't care when I came back Advertisement

She said social workers did not seem interested in helping her.

‘They should have done their jobs and they weren’t doing their jobs. Even if it was one single sexual assault they should have dealt with that. As soon as a child said no I am fine they just left it.’

The victim also insisted that there were at least another 15 men she could think of who escaped prosecution – along with hundreds of their customers.

She said: ‘If I went to Oxford now I would see hundreds of people that were involved. That’s why I wouldn’t go.’

How could police and care staff tolerate girls aged 12 having sex with abusers? Oxford inquiry slams system that handed out contraception to victims of groomers

Young girls being abused by a paedophile gang were given contraceptives on the NHS as police and social workers ignored their plight, a damning report revealed yesterday.

Professional tolerance of underage sex left hundreds of victims to be abused on ‘an industrial scale’ under the authorities’ noses, it said.

Instead of being protected the girls, some as young as 12, were dismissed as a ‘nuisance’ and ‘wilful’. The Serious Case Review found that up to 373 children may have been targeted by gangs of paedophiles in Oxfordshire.

Jailed: Brothers Akhtar Dogar (left) and Anjum Dogar (right) were each given a life sentence with a minimum of 17 years at the Old Bailey in 2013 for their role in the Oxford abuse

It came after seven men, mainly of Pakistani origin, were jailed in 2013 for abusing six white girls in Oxford between 2004 and 2012.

The review found that:

Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council made scores of errors and could have acted sooner.

Police were guilty of ‘tunnel vision’ and failed to prosecute a man for having sex with a 13-year-old girl because she looked older.

There was a widespread misunderstanding of the law on sexual consent, which states that no one under 16 can agree to sex.

One victim was dismissed as ‘nuisance’ when she went to a police station covered in blood in the early hours of the morning.

However, concerns that police and officials failed to investigate because they were scared of being branded racist were dismissed.

David Cameron said the report must act as a ‘wake-up call’ but one victim told the Mail it had provided her with nothing of what she was hoping for.

Attackers: Kamar Jamil (left), 27, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years while Assad Hussain (right) , 32, was sentenced to seven years in prison

Abusers: Mohammed Karrar (left), 38, was given life with a minimum of 20 years for the 'dreadful offences' he committed against the girls. His brother Bassam Karrar (right), 34, was also handed a life sentence with a minimum of 15 years

Critics say the chief executive of Oxfordshire County Council Joanna Simons, who has been offered a £600,000 pay-off, and the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Sara Thornton, who is leaving for a more senior police job, should be brought to account for the appalling failings among their staff.

But last night a senior child protection official insisted there was no evidence of ‘wilful professional misconduct’.

Opportunities were missed

Maggie Blyth, independent chair of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board, blamed the scandal on ‘systemic failings’ and said delays in tackling the issue of child sexual exploitation ‘allowed offenders to get away with their crimes’.

She described the number of known perpetrators as ‘the tip of an iceberg’ and said there are likely to be more children at risk.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith called for an independent inquiry, adding: ‘The public will be shocked that no one is taking responsibility for these awful failures to protect children, and no one has been disciplined.’

Catherine Bearder, a local MEP, said: ‘It is now clear there have been failures within both the social services and the police, by the very people who should have been protecting these vulnerable young girls. Both Joanna Simons and Sara Thornton should consider their positions.’

The report said the child sexual exploitation (CSE) could have been identified or prevented earlier. It criticised health workers for failings which left girls at the mercy of the paedophiles.

Victims who attended sexual health clinics were given contraception because ‘the law around consent was not properly understood’. It added: ‘A professional tolerance to knowing young teenagers were having sex with adults seems to have developed.’

The report said the girls ‘lived within a culture of acceptance of very early sexual activity’ and in some cases this was ‘accepted and condoned by their parents’.

KEY FAILURES OUTLINED IN THE 'BRUTAL' 114-PAGE REPORT ON OXFORD Brutal: Key failings were outlined in the 114-page report on Oxford Failures in the official response outlined in the 114-page report include: The issue of child sexual exploitation (CSE) was not understood and national guidance was not followed;

The 'terrible' nature of victims' experiences was not recognised because of a view that they were consenting or bringing problems on themselves;

Girls were treated without common courtesy and subjected to 'snide remarks';

There was an insufficient understanding of the law around consent and a tolerance of sexual activity with children.

There was a lack of curiosity about what was happening to the girls;

There was insufficient attention to investigating and disrupting the activities of perpetrators compared with efforts used to 'contain' behaviour of the 'difficult' girls;

The organisational response was 'weak and lacked any management oversight'.

Information about worrying cases was not 'escalated' to those at the top of organisations.

In response to the question 'Could CSE have been identified or prevented earlier?', the report said: 'The simple answer is yes.' Advertisement

The police and council in Oxfordshire were condemned for repeatedly missing opportunities to prevent the abuse years earlier.

There were discussions about a paedophile ring operating in the area in 2006 but it was not until late 2010 that senior police and council leaders were alerted.

The investigation resulted in the seven men being jailed.

The Serious Case Review highlighted incidents where officials were repeatedly warned about what was going on but no action was taken.

It detailed how in 2006 two girls aged 14 to 15 told officials of the address where abuse was happening, admitted having sex with a group of Asian males and described being raped by two of the men later convicted.

Jailed: The gang, five of Pakistani origin and two of north African origin, believed they 'owned Oxford' during their years of abusing children

The report said there should have been enough information for authorities to realise CSE was occurring. It says: ‘Opportunities were indeed missed.’

Girls would often go missing from care repeatedly, but the reasons were not investigated. Warnings that girls could be victims of organised prostitution or an abuse ring were ignored, as were concerns about connections between girls in care and adult men from the Asian community.

Thames Valley’s police and crime commissioner said the abuse could have been a hate crime with an element of racial motivation.

Anthony Stansfeld backed the review’s call to look into why so many Pakistanis or Muslims had been convicted of CSE. Police and council chiefs apologised for the failings saying improvements had since been made.

Will council boss get £600,000 payoff?

Under fire: Oxfordshire County Council chief executive Joanna Simons

Two bosses under fire over the Oxford grooming scandal are leaving their jobs – but one is being promoted and the other is poised to receive a massive payout.

Council chief Joanna Simons, who resisted calls to resign when the child sex abuse controversy broke two years ago, is in line for a pay-off worth nearly £600,000 after being made redundant.

Meanwhile Thames Valley Chief Constable Sara Thornton is to become chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council despite her force’s shocking failures in the scandal.

Last month the Mail revealed how the bumper deal for Miss Simons was rubber-stamped at a meeting of Oxfordshire County Council. However, following a backlash in the aftermath of the revelations, the move is being reviewed.

Council leader Ian Hudspeth said the decision to make her post redundant had to be reconsidered because ‘I accept I may have acted hastily and I am sorry this happened’.

Under the original plans, which are still expected to be approved, Miss Simons is due to leave her £186,000-a-year job in June with a £151,000 severance payment and a pension package worth £423,000.

Miss Simons, 55, has been chief executive of Oxfordshire County Council since 2005.

She was awarded a CBE for services to local government in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours. It seems certain that had the Cabinet Office known of the Oxford child sex ring scandal then, she would not have received the accolade.

Critics believe Miss Simons should now be stripped of her honour and forced out of her job without a pay-off.

Thames Valley Chief Constable Miss Thornton is widely regarded as David Cameron’s favourite police leader.

However, the Prime Minister, whose Witney constituency is in her force’s area, is not the blonde 52-year-old’s only influential supporter in Westminster.

Thames Valley Chief Constable Sara Thornton is widely regarded as David Cameron’s favourite police leader

Others include Home Secretary Theresa May and London Mayor Boris Johnson. Miss Thornton spent the first 15 years of her police career in the Met. In 2000 she was appointed assistant chief constable at Thames Valley, rising to the top job seven years later and being awarded a CBE.

Her time in the Thames Valley force has not been without controversy.

Six years ago, at the height of the furore over MPs’ expenses, it emerged that she had billed taxpayers for the £135 cost of hiring a suit for her partner for a state banquet at Windsor Castle.

When the post of Scotland Yard chief became vacant four years ago, one of Miss Thornton’s rivals for the job told the Mail: ‘It’s Sara’s job if she wants it.’