Rotherham councillor who remained silent on grooming gangs starts snoring after falling ASLEEP during meeting on child sexual exploitation – as he blames his ‘age and weight’

A Rotherham councilor has sparked outrage by falling asleep and snoring during a meeting to discuss the sexual exploitation of children in the city.

Alan Atkin, 66, who attributed the ’embarrassing’ snooze effect to his ‘age and weight’, has had the Labor whip suspended by party officials.

Mr Atkin was one of several councilors told about the serious suspected problem of the Asian grooming gang in Rotherham at a seminar in 2005, but he did not speak out publicly. He said this was at the request of the police and not out of fear of accusations of racism.

Mr Atkin, who has been a member of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council since 1996, was attending a meeting of the Improving Life Select Committee when he fell asleep during a briefing on the current state of sexual exploitation of children (CSE) in the area. The committee’s job is to scrutinize support for survivors of sexual abuse.

When asked what happened, he said: ‘I fell asleep, guilty as charged. I haven’t been doing well lately, so I’m going to seek medical help.’

Mr. Atkin said he didn’t fall asleep for long, but admitted that “it was embarrassing.”

Councilor Atkin was attending an Improving Lives Committee meeting at Rotherham Town Hall (pictured) when he fell asleep during a briefing on the current state of child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the area.

He also told the BBC: ‘I haven’t slept for a while and a lot has happened in my life. I am currently trying to make an appointment with the doctor to see what is wrong with me. It’s something I’ve been putting off for a long time.

‘I’m human, people fall asleep sometimes. I put it down to my age and weight.

“I probably have sleep memory or something. I just ignored it. I apologized. It shouldn’t have happened.

‘Without the subject we’re talking about, it wouldn’t be a story. People fall asleep at work all the time, right?

“It happened, I wish it hadn’t happened. I probably slept for two minutes. Everyone makes a mountain out of a molehill.”

Rotherham hit the headlines in 2014 when a report by Professor Alexis Jay estimated that 1,400 girls were sexually exploited by men of predominantly Pakistani origin between 1997 and 2013.

The report found that seminars in 2004 and 2005 for councilors and senior officials “presented the abuse in the most explicit terms.” The report added: ‘After these events no one could say ‘we didn’t know.’

Mr Atkin was one of several councilors briefed on CSE at a seminar. He said: ‘We were told by the police to keep quiet about it. That’s all I’m going to say. It’s all water under the bridge now, that’s been bothering me for the past ten years.’

After Tuesday’s meeting, Chris Read, the leader of Rotherham Council, said Mr Atkin had lost the party whip.

He said: ‘The Labor Party takes tackling child exploitation incredibly seriously. The council’s response to threats to children has changed under our leadership in recent years, as evidenced by the presentation at Scrutiny this morning. Cllr Atkin’s behavior at today’s meeting was far from the standard of professionalism and dedication we expect from our elected officials, and as such we have suspended Cllr Atkin’s whip.

“We are a changed Labor Party and the public has the right to know that all elected officials of the Labor Party meet the highest standards.”

But news of the incident sparked anger.

Sammy Woodhouse, an abuse victim from Rotherham who has campaigned for change on behalf of victims, responded to X: ‘Rotherham councilor Alan Atkin must be removed with immediate effect.’

Tory councilor Lewis Mills, who also attended the meeting, commented: ‘I couldn’t believe my ears when Cllr Atkin started snoring during the Improving Lives committee. If this is how he shows respect for the survivors when he receives an update on CSE, then he will. do not deserve to sit on the committee or represent the people of Rotherham.”