The family of a woman who conceived a baby after being groomed by a gang in Stoke-on-Trent are calling for the police to reopen her case, saying she was “failed all those years ago”.
Jodie Sheeran, then aged 15, was allegedly taken to a hotel and raped in November 2004. She is believed to have been groomed by a group of young men of Pakistani heritage for a year beforehand. Jodie’s son, Jayden, was born nine months after the attack.
Following the allegation, a man was charged, but the case was dropped the day before the trial was due to start in September 2005. Jodie died in November 2022 from an alcohol-related death.
Speaking on The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee, Jodie’s mother Angela has welcomed the national grooming gangs inquiry, saying: “This could be my chance to get justice for Jodie… I’ve fought so long.”
As part of the inquiry, more than 800 cold cases will be followed up on by the National Crime Agency (NCA). And Angela is calling for Jodie’s to be one of them.
“I’m just hoping that poor Jodie is included,” she said. “Because they just keep telling me she’s dead and there’s nothing they can do, it’s her word against his. But I don’t want to forget Jodie.
“Just because she’s dead, it shouldn’t mean that she doesn’t matter.
“She should be with us because they failed her all those years ago,” Angela added.
Angela and Jodie’s father, David, say there were multiple failings when Jodie’s case was first investigated.
The case went to trial but before proceedings were due to begin, a police officer knocked on the family’s door to tell them the charges had been dropped.
Jodie’s father David said the family were told this was because of the teenager’s “reckless lifestyle” and that they were later told their daughter was “an unreliable witness”.
“They bottled it, they were scared of being called racist,” he told Sky News.
The family say they never received any formal communication on why the charges were dropped.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “The failure in 2005 to explain to Jodie and her family why her case was discontinued was wrong. This should not have happened, and we are profoundly sorry for the devastating consequences this has had.
“Though the records from 2005 no longer exist, we worked carefully in 2019 to review the available evidence from police files, and a separate prosecutor concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge the suspect with rape. We wrote to Jodie explaining this decision.
“Subsequently, as part of our handling of a complaint in 2023, we reviewed the available evidence again and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support a prosecution for either rape or sexual assault – which we communicated to Jodie’s family.
“The way the CPS handles these cases has changed significantly over the last two decades; we have since established a dedicated Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit to tackle these awful crimes and recruited victim liaison officers across the country so every victim has a dedicated point of contact.
“But we recognise these improvements bring little comfort to Jodie’s family – and we continue to offer them our deepest condolences for the loss they have endured.”
‘I felt nothing but loved’ by my mum, says Jodie’s son
Jodie’s son Jayden has now joined his grandparents in fighting for justice.
“In primary school, I was questioning who I am and what am I,” he said. “Why am I with this family when I’m completely different to them?
“Friends used to ask me in primary school, ‘why are you a different colour to your nan and grandad’, ‘why don’t you see your mum? Why don’t you see your dad?’.”
“I know my mum did everything she could for me,” he said. “When I was with her, I felt nothing but loved.”
Jayden said he knows who his father is and saw him locally just two weeks ago, “but he didn’t even recognise me.”
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In a statement issued to Sky News, Staffordshire Police said it met with Angela Sheeran in both 2023 and 2024 to discuss her daughter’s case.
It said: “One suspect was identified and, while several reviews have been conducted, including speaking to potential witnesses and victims that Mrs Sheeran provided contact details for, we regret that no new evidence has emerged that would allow us to take further action at this time.”
