Row Over headline in 'The Times'

THE chief constable of Greater Manchester has hit back at a headline in The Times that characterised Rochdale as a 'sex grooming town' in its reporting of the murder of the 64-year-old former Imam, Jalal Uddin, last week.
Ian Hopkins in an open letter to the newspaper's editor, posted on Twitter, said that the wording of the headline 'Imam beaten to death in sex grooming town' in an online report into the death in a playground on South Street, Wardleworth, Rochdale on Thursday, had appalled him and could cause community tension.
The chief constable demanded an immediate apology, and said that the police remained open-minded about the circumstances of the murder and that, although they had not ruled out that it may have been racially motivated, there was no evidence to suggest that it was.
Today, DCI Terry Crompton, of the force’s serious crime division, said:
'Our investigation is continuing at a quick pace and we have carried out a significant number of inquiries since the tragic events of last Thursday to establish what happened to Jalal.  We have got two people in custody and I hope these arrests, along with the police activity on Ramsey Street today will reassure the public of just how serious we are taking this investigation.'