Huge replace in plans to deport grooming gang chief jailed for raping kids
Sick Shabir Ahmed was jailed in 2012 for 30 child rape offences after jurors were told he treated his victim as a “possession” using her for his own sexual gratification
Ahmed was the head of a gang which abused girls as young as 12(Image: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire)
The home secretary will change the law so the Pakistan-born ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang can be deported after his release from prison.
Shabana Mahmood will set out on Monday how she plans to amend current legislation which currently stops Shabir Ahmed being removed from the UK, it is reported. The move was praised by PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham, who said: “Correct decision, well done.”
Ahmed, 73, was released on licence last week after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for 30 child rape offences. But under the 1971 Immigration act he cannot be returned to Pakistan, despite having been stripped of his British citizenship.
The act exempts people from deportation if they came to Britain before 1973 and have lived in the UK for at least five years. But Ms Mahmood is expected to announce officials have found a way to close this loophole, the Telegraph reports.
It is thought the move will not jeopardise the right to remain of other Commonwealth citizens, such as the Windrush migrants from the Caribbean. But the Government is expected to still face difficulties, as Pakistan has so far refused to take Ahmed back.
A source told the Telegraph: “We are confident that there is a fix to deal with the domestic side of it but it is now down to the FCDO [Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office] negotiations with Pakistan that will decide if [Ahmed] stays in the UK.”
It is not known how long it would take to change the law, but one government source suggested to the BBC it could potentially be up to a year. And there is currently no agreement in place with Pakistan to allow the UK to return Ahmed there.
Ahmed was one of nine men found guilty of exploiting girls as young as 13 at two takeaway restaurants in the Heywood area of Rochdale, Gtr Manchester.
Known to his victims as “Daddy”, Ahmed had dual British-Pakistani citizenship but was stripped of his British citizenship following his 2012 conviction. Pakistani officials say he and other grooming gang back ringleaders previously renounced their Pakistani citizenship.
Ahmed was freed from HMP Leeds last Thursday despite three failed attempts to secure parole, most recently in October 2024. One document, relating to a previous review in 2023, shows Ahmed was seen to present a “high risk of sexual offending”.
Some of his victims said they were “frightened” by his release, and they felt “unsafe”. After leaving prison, Ahmed was sent to 24-hour staffed accommodation and fitted with a GPS electronically monitored tag.
He is subject to strict licence conditions following his release, including exclusion zones, an electronically monitored curfew and the requirements of the sex offenders register.
