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15
May
Obituary: Andrew Norfolk, investigative journalist from Harrogate who exposed the grooming gangs scandal
A Harrogate man who became one of the greatest journalists of his generation has died at the age of 60, it was announced today.
Former Ashville College head boy Andrew Norfolk was the Times investigative reporter who exposed the scandal of sexual grooming gangs in towns and cities across England, and his work led directly to legal changes which would result in more convictions.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer led tributes this morning, describing him as an “incredibly talented reporter”, who was “driven by the desire to call our attention to injustice and protect the most vulnerable”.
The issue of child sexual grooming was first raised by Keighley MP Ann Cryer, who voiced concerns in 2003 about girls being "befriended” by older men of Asian heritage outside two local schools.
Andrew thought it was a “dream story for the far right” – a political persuasion he did not share – and so was at first reticent to take on the story.
But the evidence mounted, both of grooming and of cultural heritage being a significant factor in it.
The cases always involved young girls aged 11 to 15 being plied with alcohol and drugs, bundled into cars and taken to “parties” where multiple men would have sex with them. The vast majority of the relatively few men who had been convicted of such offences were of Pakistani heritage.
'Conspiracy of silence'
Eventually, Andrew felt he had to tackle the issue. His first front-page story, “Conspiracy of silence on UK sex gangs”, was published by The Times in January 2011.
The story caused a sensation. The government announced an inquiry, and Andrew was assigned to the story full time.
He is credited with blowing the lid off a problem that was hiding in plain sight, revealing the true nature of what was going on in towns such as Rotherham and Rochdale, and with being instrumental in changing the way grooming cases are dealt with by the police and the courts.
But the work took its toll. Andrew came in for a torrent of abuse from people accusing him of racism, and even received two death threats.
But he ploughed on, frequently working till two in the morning and getting up early to start again, for years.
He won the Paul Foot Award and the Orwell Prize for his investigations and was named the 2014 Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards.
Ashville College
Andrew Mark Norfolk was born in Canterbury in 1965 to David Norfolk, a headmaster and Methodist lay preacher, and Olive (née Bellerby).
When Andrew was 11, he moved to Harrogate, where his father had been appointed headmaster of Ashville College, a position he would hold for 10 years.
But he wore his father’s importance lightly, at least outwardly, cutting a modest figure at school, where he was well liked.
His father was said to have lost a night’s sleep debating whether or not to make Andrew head boy. He knew he deserved the honour, but he didn’t want to expose himself or his son to the taint of nepotism. In the end, he made the right decision and Andrew got the job.
Andrew studied English at Durham University and joined the Scarborough Evening News in 1989. In 1995, he moved on to The Yorkshire Post, where his award-winning exposure of a corruption scandal at Doncaster council led to him being headhunted by The Times in 2000. He became chief investigative reporter for that newspaper in 2012, retiring from it only last November.
Although he tried his best to leave the depressing world of sexual grooming behind, he did raise his voice as recently as January to publicly correct comments by Elon Musk, who claimed that the British government, Sir Keir Starmer and the media had been “complicit in the rape of Britain”.
In fact, Andrew had met Sir Keir, who was then Director of Public Prosecutions, to discuss how Crown Prosecution Service regulations were hampering prosecutions of sexually predatory gangs. As a result, Sir Keir introduced new guidelines that Andrew said led to a “huge increase” in convictions of child groomers.
Tributes
This morning, Sir Keir Starmer said:
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.
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. His passion for supporting the victims of grooming gangs shone through, and 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.
Tony Gallagher, the editor of The Times, said:
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.
In Rotherham and Rochdale, in particular, the victims of those crimes, teenage girls at the time, knew they had found a reporter they could trust to tell their story – of the men who had abused them and of the institutions which had let them down. Andrew lived up to his promise, and went on to expose more cover-ups of sexual abuse against children despite the incomprehensibly difficult nature of reporting them.
We at The Times are shattered to learn of our friend and colleague’s death just six months after the start of what should have been a long and happy retirement, earned many times over.
Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, which runs the Paul Foot Award, said:
I was really sad to hear about the death of Andrew Norfolk, a terrific journalist who won Private Eye’s Foot Award in 2012 for a really important story that is still in the news today.
Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society of Editors, said:
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Andrew Norfolk, whose fearless investigative reporting for The Times exposed injustice and gave a voice to the voiceless.
His groundbreaking work set the highest standards for journalism and leaves a legacy of courage, integrity, and impact.
Rhiannon Wilkinson, headteacher of Ashville College, said:
The Ashville family, particularly those Old Ashvillians who were classmates of Andrew’s in the late 1970s and early 1980s, are sad to learn of his untimely passing.
Andrew’s death has robbed journalism of a fine reporter. It is testimony to the esteem in which he was held that the Prime Minister today led a number of high-profile tributes from those who had met him.
A former head boy at Ashville, he is fondly remembered by his peers as a pupil who excelled both academically and on the sports field.
Few jobs – if any – in journalism have as big a pair of boots to fill than those of the chief investigations reporter for The Times, yet Andrew stepped into them seamlessly when the opportunity arose, forging a multi-award-winning career at the highest level.
Andrew Norfolk, investigative journalist and newsroom giant, was born on January 8, 1965. He died last Thursday (May 8, 2025), aged 60, after collapsing before a routine medical examination.
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