Government 'looking at every route' to deport grooming leader
Shabir Ahmed was the head of a gang which abused girls as young as 12.
Government ministers have stated that officials are "exploring every option" to deport the leader of a Rochdale grooming gang.
Ahmed was sentenced to 22 years in prison in August 2012, but this week his victims were informed that he was scheduled for release on licence today.
They were also told, contrary to previous assurances, that a 55-year-old law prevents the government from deporting him.
However, Sir Alan Campbell, Leader of the House of Commons, said today that "the government is exploring every option in this case," while Labour Minister for Skills Baroness Jacqui Smith stated the government was "doing everything we can to get this guy out of the country."
Ahmed, now 73, held dual British and Pakistani citizenship when convicted.
He was stripped of his British citizenship in court, and it was anticipated he would be deported to Pakistan after serving his sentence.
Nevertheless, his victims have been informed that under the Immigration Act 1971, any Commonwealth citizen who arrived in the UK before 1973 and has lived here for at least five years cannot be deported.
Labour MP Jim McMahon, representing a constituency in Oldham where some abuse took place, told the BBC that the 1971 act was designed to protect Commonwealth citizens who came to the UK seeking a better life and who contributed to the country.
"It was not designed to give a free pass to a child rapist," he said.
"I think we need to anchor it in what the law was intended to do and not the way it has been abused today."
McMahon said the government aims to "close the loophole" in the 1971 act but noted that legal advice is required to determine whether any changes could apply retrospectively to permit Ahmed's deportation.
The BBC understands the government is considering amending the Immigration and Asylum Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, to address the 1971 law.
In the House of Commons today, Rochdale MP Paul Waugh asked Sir Alan Campbell whether he agreed that the Home Office and Foreign Office should do everything possible to ensure individuals like Ahmed are deported and their victims never have to face them again.
"That the Home Office and the Foreign Office should do everything possible within their power to make sure people like Ahmed are deported and that their victims never ever get to face them again?"
Campbell affirmed his agreement, adding:
"The individual that we're talking about, if he breaches the very strict conditions which have been placed upon him, then he will be locked up again immediately, so I hope that he pays heed to that.
"But I also know that the government is exploring every option in this case."
Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the BBC he plans to propose his own amendment to the bill to remove the provisions preventing Ahmed's removal.
He stated that McMahon and Waugh "both agreed with me that the law needs to change."
On Wednesday, Andy Burnham, expected to become Labour leader and prime minister later this month, confirmed his desire for Ahmed to be removed from the country.
Posting on X, Burnham wrote:
"Like everyone, I want this vile criminal out of the country. Victims must come first.
"I will ask the home and foreign secretaries to review all possible options - and they should consider nothing is off the table."
Ahmed, known as 'Daddy' by his victims, was the ringleader of a group of nine men who systematically groomed and sexually abused teenage girls.
The men gained the trust of their victims by offering takeaway food and cigarettes, later providing alcohol before repeatedly raping them.
A jury heard that Ahmed treated one victim as a "possession" and that the girl was abused on an "almost weekly basis."
One survivor, identified as 'Ruby' to protect her anonymity, told night:
"Scared for my safety and my kids' safety."
"The main ringleader is getting out of prison, who is well known in Rochdale, Oldham and Middleton, so even if he's not in that area, he still knows people and has a chance to talk to people from that area and that makes me unsafe."
Police detective turned whistleblower and campaigner Maggie Oliver, who has supported Ruby, told the BBC that Ruby encountered one of the other gang members in an Asda supermarket in 2016, when she believed he was still incarcerated.
Oliver said:
"She lives with the fear that that might happen again, but she's speaking on behalf of all victims and survivors who feel that they are always an afterthought."
She added that Ruby was particularly distressed by Ahmed's release because the man she saw in the shops, Adil Khan, has since fled the country despite strict licence conditions.
Oliver further stated:
"She now is living with the fear that Shabir Ahmed, who is also under scrutiny, might escape from where he has been scrutinized and turn up on her doorstep or have some of his associates come after her as well.
"This is a fear that victims live with every day and they don't feel that the authorities are taking their concerns seriously."
The Home Office confirmed that Ahmed will be subject to strict licence conditions upon release, including electronic tagging to monitor his movements, and will be returned to prison if he breaches these conditions.
He is also subject to an exclusion zone covering Rochdale and Oldham.
Get in touch
Tell us which stories we should cover in Greater Manchester.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
- Grooming victims heard of abuser's release on social media, MP says
- Burnham calls for grooming gang ringleader to be deported
- Government 'cannot deport' grooming gang ringleader
- Sex gang man jailed for 22 years
