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The young teenage girl was thrown from a moving car like a piece of discarded litter.

When she had recovered enough to be interviewed she told detectives from Greater Manchester police a story that lifted the stone on a criminal subculture in which men systematically and routinely groom young girls whom they target anywhere young people gather – including cafes, takeaways and outside school – in order to rape and sexually abuse them, often passing them on to others.

Some are paid with drugs, cigarettes and drink, and all become so convinced that what they are involved in is a normal, loving relationship they introduce their friends or sisters to the men, only for them to be drawn into the abusive circle too.

Detectives discovered the crime was going on in almost every area of the Greater Manchester force, with children on the fringes of society – runaways from family homes and the care system – the predominant victims. ... >>>