Merseyside grooming brothers: 'Grave errors' led to child abuse

Ilvarasan (left) and Vinothan Rajenthiram groomed young girls at convenience stores

"Grave errors" by public bodies led to the continuing sexual abuse of a young girl by two brothers, the chair of Wirral's safeguarding board has said.

Ilvarasan, of Wallasey Village, Wirral, and Vinothan Rajenthiram, of Wigan, abused girls between 2010 and 2016.

Dr Maggie Atkinson said she was "deeply sorry" for the "missed opportunities" that allowed the abuse.

Wirral Council's Tory opposition criticised the decision not to publish the full serious case review.

In May, Ilvarasan was jailed for 22 and a half years, and Vinothan was sentenced to 18 and a half years.

The brothers gave 14 and 15-year-old girls free sweets and mobile phone top-ups at convenience stores they worked in at Birkenhead and Liverpool before taking them to unoccupied flats for their "sexual gratification".

Dr Atkinson said: "Grave errors were made in the life of the child at the centre of this review."

She said the serious case review demonstrated "opportunities were missed which allowed this abuse to go on undetected for longer than it should have."

Analysis: Claire Hamilton, BBC Radio Merseyside Political Reporter

Wirral's safeguarding chief says lessons have been learned from the case of the Rajenthiram brothers.

Yet without the publication of the serious case review we don't know exactly what the failures were that allowed their abuse of vulnerable girls to go on without some intervention by the council or the police.

The decision not to publish the serious case review in full is completely understandable if it protects the anonymity of a victim, but it's a blow for transparency in a social services department which has been struggling for some time

The decision not to publish the full report, which focused on one of the victims, was described as "appalling" by Wirral's Tory councillors.

Wallasey Conservative councillor Paul Hayes said: "We owe it to the victims of this tragic case to ensure that those who failed them are held accountable and that lessons are learnt, how could this possibly happen if this report remains secret?"

Dr Atkinson said the Wirral Safeguarding Children Board wanted to avoid anything that would identify the victims.

Wirral Council's director of children's services, Julia Hassall, resigned after the brothers were jailed and following a damning Ofsted report.

In September 2016, its children's services were rated "inadequate" after Ofsted found investigations into abuse "are not always compliant" with guidelines and it did not react as quickly to those at a "lower risk".