Award-winning Yorkshire Post and Times journalist, Andrew Norfolk, has died aged 60 – just months after he retired.
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has led tributes to Norfolk, who he said had been “absolutely integral” to changing the law in order that more grooming gang-members could be convicted.
“I am deeply sorry to hear of Andrew’s death. He wasn’t just an incredibly talented reporter, at the Times and elsewhere, he was driven by the desire to call our attention to injustice and protect the most vulnerable,” said Starmer.
“I was privileged enough to meet Andrew first-hand when I was director of public prosecutions after he broke the news of the grooming gangs scandal.
“He was absolutely integral to making sure we could change the rules to increase convictions of the vile perpetrators.
“My thoughts are with Andrew’s family, loved ones and friends. I hope their memories of him and the knowledge of the difference he made to people’s lives are a comfort to them at this time.”
Norfolk’s investigation in 2011 revealed a pattern, of mainly white girls, being groomed by gangs of adult men of Pakistani heritage, after a growing amount of prosecutions.
That led to the Rotherham inquiry into child exploitation, which found that around 1400 children were sexually exploited over 16 years. It won him numerous awards, including the Paul Foot Award for investigative journalism and the Orwell Prize.
READ MORE – BBC Head of North leaves for Bureau of Investigative Journalism
James Mitchinson, the current Editor of the Yorkshire Post said:
“Given the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is leading the tributes to Andrew, I think it is fair to say he was no ordinary reporter.
“He was an extraordinary journalist, a titan of our trade.”
Norfolk started his career at the Scarborough Evening News in 1989 after studying English at Durham University. He joined the Yorkshire Post in 1995 before moving to The Times in 2002. During his time in South Yorkshire, he worked on the “Donnygate” scandal, which exposed corruption at Doncaster Council in the 90s.
Tony Gallagher, the Editor of The Times also paid tribute:
“Andrew was, without doubt, one of the greatest investigative reporters of our or any age. His tireless work exposing the evils of the predominantly Asian grooming gangs in and around towns in the north of England led to long overdue acknowledgement of the crimes, after the people who had been in a position to put a stop to it for years chose to look the other way.”
[Photo – Orwell Prize]
