Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Rotherham child sex abuse victim recalls telling her story to her son

Sammy Woodhouse was instrumental in exposing the gang after she approached the media anonymously with her claims

Rotherham child sex abuse victim recalls telling her story to her son

One of the victims of Rotherham child sex abuse said that she had no idea about how to describe her story to her son.

Sammy Woodhouse, 37, became pregnant at the age of 15 after being raped by abuser Arshid Hussain, who was 25 at the time.


"I didn't know what to tell him. How do I tell him? He had no-one to talk to. We weren't in contact with anyone that has been through this," the victim Sammy Woodhouse told The Sun.

"He and I just felt very alone in things. And I remember him saying to me, "We're the only family going through this". I said, 'Well, actually, we're not but we're the ones that are public, you've got no idea how many people will have a similar story to us'."

She now has a new BBC documentary called Out of the Shadows: Born from Rape, in which she speaks to other mothers in her position as well as children who were born from rape.

She was one of 18 girls who called Hussain her boyfriend. In 2016, he was jailed for 35 years for 23 offences against nine girls after Woodhouse took her story to the papers.

Later, 18 other members of the gang, including two of his brothers, were also jailed.

According to Woodhouse, when her son was around 12 years old she began to come to terms with the fact she was abused.

She had previously spoken about how her abuser treated her like a 'dead body on a slab in a morgue' and isolated her from her family when she was just 14.

The victim revealed that she was subjected to horrendous abuse, including rape and assaults, and even coerced with threats to kill her family at the hands of Hussain.

"I was pretty much his sex doll; he was an absolute monster. I just felt like a dead body on a slab in a morgue. I grew up in Rotherham, about two and a half miles from the town centre. I was your average, everyday little girl I suppose," she is reported to have said.

Woodhouse  added: "What he did was actual very clever. He worked out the dynamics in my family, he knew my dad was more strict and my mum was more of a best friend. So what he did was started to turn me more against my dad rather than my mum.

"I was completely out of my depth. I didn’t recognise it was dangerous and wrong I thought I’m a teenager having a bit of fun, how bad can things get."

She escaped her abuser when he was sent to prison in 2001 for a violent offence.

More For You

wasim bashir

Bashir retired from the force while under investigation but will still face misconduct proceedings. (Photo credit: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Former West Yorkshire Police officer jailed for misconduct

A FORMER West Yorkshire Police officer has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison after being convicted of misconduct in a public office.

Wasim Bashir, 55, who worked as a detective constable in Bradford District, was found guilty of one count of misconduct in a public office for forming a sexual relationship with a female victim of crime. He was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, 29 August.

Keep ReadingShow less
Epping protests

Protesters calling for the closure of The Bell Hotel, which was housing asylum seekers, gather outside the council offices in Epping on August 8, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Over a dozen councils plan legal action despite Home Office court win

Highlights:

  • Court of Appeal has overturned injunction blocking use of Epping hotel for asylum seekers.
  • Judges say human rights obligations outweigh local safety concerns.
  • At least 13 councils preparing legal action despite ruling.
  • Protests outside the Bell Hotel lead to arrests and police injuries.

MORE than a dozen councils are moving ahead with legal challenges against the use of hotels for asylum seekers despite the Home Office winning an appeal in the Court of Appeal.

Keep ReadingShow less
India-Canada-iStock

India and Canada have appointed new envoys in a step to restore diplomatic ties strained since 2023. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Envoys appointed as India, Canada move to restore diplomatic ties

INDIA and Canada on Thursday announced the appointment of new envoys to each other’s capitals, in a step aimed at restoring strained ties following the killing of a Sikh separatist in 2023.

India has named senior diplomat Dinesh K Patnaik as the next high commissioner to Ottawa, while Canada appointed Christopher Cooter as its new envoy to New Delhi.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rajitha Senaratne arrested

Security officers escort Sri Lankan former fisheries minister, Rajitha Senaratne (C), outside a court in Colombo on August 29, 2025. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Getty Images

Rajitha Senaratne detained as Sri Lanka intensifies anti-corruption drive

SRI LANKAN former government minister surrendered himself to a court on Friday (29) after two months on the run, the latest high profile detention in a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown.

Anti-graft units have ramped up their investigations since president Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power in September on a promise to fight corruption.

Keep ReadingShow less
protests-uk-getty
Protesters from the group Save Our Future & Our Kids Future demonstrate against uncontrolled immigration outside the Cladhan Hotel on August 16, 2025 in Falkirk, Scotland. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Government wins appeal over housing asylum seekers in hotel

Highlights:

  • UK appeals court overturns ruling blocking hotel use for asylum seekers
  • Judges call earlier High Court decision “seriously flawed”
  • 138 asylum seekers will not need to be relocated by September 12
  • Full hearing scheduled at the Court of Appeal in October

A UK appeals court has overturned a lower court order that had temporarily blocked the use of a hotel in Epping, northeast of London, to house asylum seekers.

Keep ReadingShow less