Baroness Casey says government's scheme to quash grooming victims' convictions does not go far enough

Baroness Louise Casey has publicly criticised the UK government's response to her recommendation that convictions of child grooming victims be quashed, calling the current legislation the 'lazy option'. The new law pardons victims cautioned or convicted of on-street prostitution offences as children, but leaves untouched convictions for public order offences, common assault, criminal damage, and soliciting offences incurred when victims were adults but still being trafficked. Survivors interviewed by the BBC, including women with between 30 and over 100 arrests as children, say the narrow scope of the scheme fails to reflect the full range of crimes they were coerced into. The Home Office has directed those with convictions outside the scheme to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), but at least one survivor was rejected by the CCRC despite it acknowledging her convictions were linked to trafficking and coercion. The government has pointed to a £100 million investment to tackle child sexual abuse and confirmed the first case outside the disregard scheme has been referred to the courts. Casey acknowledged the government had made 'huge progress in many areas' over the past year but said it had not moved far enough or fast enough on the convictions issue. The legislation currently applies only to England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland pursuing separate processes.