The council bosses who failed victims of the Rotherham grooming gang: How senior leaders have pursued roles as authorities advisers, bankers – and an ‘govt coach and mentor’
Council bosses in Rotherham who were criticised for failing to protect 1,400 young girls from grooming gangs have gone on to become government advertisers, bankers and an ‘executive coach and mentor’.
The independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation condemned senior officials who ‘underplayed’ the scale of the ‘appalling’ abuse against girls as young as 11 at the hands of male abusers, who were mainly of Pakistani heritage.
Anger over official failures recently prompted calls to remove a portrait of Shaun Wright – Rotherham council’s former director of children’s services and the future South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner – from the borough’s town hall.
These were rejected by the authority, which found there was no precedent or legal reason to remove the portrait.
While the likes of Mr Wright have struggled to rebuild their reputation following the scandal, some of his former colleagues have gone on to reinvent themselves, with one even moving to Australia to advise on ‘human and social services challenges’ –
Sonia Sharp
Dr Sharp served as director of children’s services in Rotherham between 2005 and 2006 and acknowledged her failure to protect girls, saying: ‘You can’t be the director of children’s services and not take responsibility for what happens to children.’
The offending in Rotherham that was covered by the Jay report took place between 1997 and 2013, with one care worker describing how abusers would ‘brazenly’ take girls from their children’s homes.
After a period working for Sheffield council, Dr Sharp moved to Australia, where she became deputy secretary for education in the state of Victoria.
![Sonia Sharp served as director of children's services in Rotherham between 2005 and 2006](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/12/93955969-14270003-image-a-11_1736512730172.jpg)
Sonia Sharp served as director of children’s services in Rotherham between 2005 and 2006
Following the publication of the Jay report in 2014, calls grew on her to resign – which she eventually did in 2015.
Gavin Jennings, Special Minister of State, said Dr Sharp was ‘seeking opportunities outside of government’ and admitted her position was ‘inappropriate’.
She is now a partner at consultancy EY Australia, with a profile on the company’s website describing her as having ‘dedicated over 30 years to public service, with 17 years as a senior executive in the UK leading education and child and family services, and most recently as Deputy Secretary in the Victorian government’.
Dr Sharp is described as a partner in EY’s Workforce Advisory Practice, as well as national lead on public service workforce and the ‘response and recovery’ to Covid.
She describes herself as a ‘shrewd and strategic adviser’, adding: ‘I love early morning swims and starting each day refreshed to plunge into the biggest issues of the day ahead.’
Jahangir Akhtar
Mr Akhtar became deputy leader of Rotherham council in 2011, also serving as vice-chairman of the South Yorkshire police and crime panel.
The Jay report suggested he may have decided to ignore a ‘politically inconvenient truth’ when he claimed not to have been aware of the ‘deep-rooted problem of Pakistani-heritage perpetrators targeting young white girls’.
He was forced to ‘step aside’ from his role as deputy leader following allegations that he had been involved in a deal to help Arshid ‘Mad Ash’ Hussain, a relative accused of grooming an underage girl.
![Jahangir Akhtar became deputy leader of Rotherham council in 2011, also serving as vice-chairman of the South Yorkshire police and crime panel](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/12/93955981-14270003-image-m-12_1736512739781.jpg)
Jahangir Akhtar became deputy leader of Rotherham council in 2011, also serving as vice-chairman of the South Yorkshire police and crime panel
![Mr Akhtar posing with former Labour leader Ed Miliband](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/12/93955553-14270003-image-a-6_1736511779834.jpg)
Mr Akhtar posing with former Labour leader Ed Miliband
![In one cartoon Mr Akhtar shared, 'anti-Semitism allegations' is seen written on a steamroller alongside a hand bearing the Star of David that is dropping money into a US member of Congress shaped like a piggy bank](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/12/93955551-14270003-image-a-5_1736511776957.jpg)
In one cartoon Mr Akhtar shared, ‘anti-Semitism allegations’ is seen written on a steamroller alongside a hand bearing the Star of David that is dropping money into a US member of Congress shaped like a piggy bank
He then lost his seat to Ukip at last year’s local elections.
Hussain was convicted at Sheffield Crown Court in 2017 of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
Mr Akhtar, a former taxi driver who was previously seen posing with Ed Miliband, was suspended from the Labour Party in 2014 and today works for Spanish bank Santander.
He is also the director of a social enterprise providing ‘educational support services’ and ‘social work activities’ at a Rotherham mosque.
His TikTok, ‘Jahangir Akhtar Unfiltered’ includes commentary on political issues and world affairs, including Israel’s war in Gaza.
In 2019, he was accused by Labour Against Antisemitism of sharing ‘extremely anti-Semitic’ posts.
![Akhtar's resignation as deputy leader of Rotherham council followed claims he helped broker a deal with police involving one of his relatives, gang ringleader Arshid Hussain (pictured)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/12/11013366-14270003-Jahangir_Akhtar_s_resignation_followed_claims_he_helped_broker_a-a-4_1736511623516.jpg)
Akhtar’s resignation as deputy leader of Rotherham council followed claims he helped broker a deal with police involving one of his relatives, gang ringleader Arshid Hussain (pictured)
In one cartoon he shared, ‘anti-Semitism allegations’ is seen written on a steamroller alongside a hand bearing the Star of David that is dropping money into a US member of Congress shaped like a piggy bank.
He told The Times: ‘I have never said or inferred anything anti-Semitic about the Jewish people who like all races deserve love and respect, but however have criticised the Israeli Zionist policies.
‘I was never accused of any wrongdoing in respect of children’s safety.’
Mr Akhtar was also later stripped of his taxi-driver licence after a ‘fit and proper person’ test was introduced by the council.
Ged Fitzgerald
Mr Fitzgerald was criticised for ‘missing opportunities’ to tackle grooming while CEO of Rotherham council from 2001 to 2003.
A report commissioned by the authority and released in 2017 was also critical of its former boss, finding that a ‘more rigorous’ approach by the top official to child sexual exploitation could have resulted in a ‘very different’ outcome for victims.
Despite his performance in Rotherham, Mr Fitzgerald later headed up Sunderland city council, Lancashire county council and Liverpool city council.
![Ged Fitzgerald was criticised for 'missing opportunities' to tackle grooming while CEO of Rotherham council from 2001 to 2003](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/12/93955983-14270003-Ged_Fitzgerald_was_criticised_for_missing_opportunities_to_tackl-a-14_1736513103593.jpg)
Ged Fitzgerald was criticised for ‘missing opportunities’ to tackle grooming while CEO of Rotherham council from 2001 to 2003
He was later arrested in 2017 following a probe into financial irregularities at Lancashire county council and resigned from Liverpool city council the next year.
In 2022, he was charged with misconduct in public office and procuring the misconduct of others.
He now advertises himself as an executive coach and is a certified member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.
His profile reads: ‘I am a former Chief Executive of 18 years standing who has moved into executive coaching & mentoring in 2020. I am self-employed.
‘I am a certificated EIA member of EMCC and am a qualified Senior Executive Coaching Practitioner with AoEC. I offer 1:1 coaching and team/group coaching.’
Mr Fitzgerald claimed that the Jay report and Rotherham council’s own report were released a decade after he left the council and that neither of them ‘allowed me to evidentially address the issues being raised’.
He added: ‘After publication of the Greenburgh review, I voluntarily entered into a review process with elected members of Liverpool city council as my employers at the time, answering all questions as honestly and openly as I could. The city council concluded there was no case for further action.
‘My recollection is that the Greenburgh report reached its conclusions ‘on the balance of probabilities’ despite the absence of documentation.
‘The absence of documentation from the time means it is impossible to know whether opportunities had indeed been missed at the time.’