Meet Justice Jonathan Rose.
The judge who recently denied a request to release transcripts from a key grooming gang trial—arguing that doing so would be “contrary to the public interest.”
The request, submitted by Open Justice, sought access to the full transcript from a 2016 trial at Bradford Crown Court, where twelve men were convicted of sexually exploiting a teenage girl in Keighley.
Over 8 years ago.
Bradford has long been a hotspot for some of the country’s most insidious grooming/r*pe gang cases.
Underage girls were abused while living in children’s care homes—a place you’d expect to find not just protection, but over-protection, if anything.
In another case, a 13-year-old girl was exploited by as many as 100 men.
Rose further justified the refusal, claiming: “the context of the public debate now taking place in general concerning cases such as this, which are said to be part of a currency of offending in this city and elsewhere.”
Apparently, use of the transcripts amid wider public discussion is not in the public interest.
Open Justice's head, Adam Wren, said that crucial information has been “censored,” and that the release of court proceedings has a clear public interest element.
The question begs: how in the hell are we supposed to prevent this from happening again if we can't see the details of what happened in the first place?
