Telford sex ring victim's father tells EDL and Britain First to stop using her image to promote Islamophobia

Vicky Round was groomed from the age of 11 by men of Pakistani origin

(Caters)

The father of a Telford child sex ring victim has put a stop to his late daughter being used as the face of Islamophobia by far-right groups.

Venom Round, whose daughter Vicky was groomed from the age of 11 by men of Pakistani decent, said he didn’t support the English Defence League (EDL) and Britain First’s using her image to promote hate against the Muslim community.

"I didn't like the fact that the EDL used my daughter's picture and I made sure they took down the banners and made it known to everyone that I didn't want them using her picture,” he told Sky News.

"Britain First - they had the pictures of Vicky as well."

Mr Round said both groups respected his request to stop using the photographs of Vicky, during protests and marches but "it took them a while".

Seven men of Pakistani origin were jailed in Telford in 2013 following Operation Chalice, a police investigation into child abuse in the Shropshire town. Members of the sex ring targeted vulnerable teenage girls and kept them submissive through threats of violence.

At a rally on 15 September UKIP leader Gerard Batten said that child grooming scandals were "covered up" because people were afraid of being called racist and Islamophobic but Mr Round said that child sexual exploitation was an issue that didn’t only concern one ethic and social group.

He believes that it was "incompetence" from authorities rather than political correctness that allowed gangs to sexually abuse children.

"I took my daughter to the police station umpteen times. As soon as I said to them 'I think my daughter has been groomed by men' they should have checked on it and investigated it straight away rather than putting it down to 'oh it's the lifestyle', or it's the parents' fault for letting them dress a certain way,” he said.

"And it was the same with social services."

After struggling with drugs and alcohol, Vicky passed away in 2009, aged 20.