Shabir Ahmed, the 73-year-old ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, is set for release this week and cannot be deported, his victims have been informed. Known to his victims as “Daddy,” Ahmed held dual British-Pakistani citizenship but was stripped of his British citizenship following his 2012 conviction for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls.
Documents published online, apparently from the Probation Service to one of his victims, state he will be released on Thursday. However, he cannot be deported to Pakistan due to provisions in the Immigration Act 1971, which bar his removal. These provisions apply because he arrived in the UK before 1973 and has lived in the UK for at least five years before his deportation was considered.
Political Reaction and Calls for Deportation
In 2022, Andy Burnham, who is likely to replace Sir Keir Starmer as the next prime minister, called on the then-Tory government “to do everything within ... the government’s power” to deport grooming gang members. Paul Waugh, MP for Rochdale, said: “The people of Rochdale want him booted out of the country and it's simply unacceptable that the government of Pakistan are refusing to take him back. If the Citizenship Act needs to be amended to do that, ministers should look at doing just that.”
Details of Release Conditions
It is understood that Ahmed will be released on licence. He must initially live at an accommodation which is staffed 24 hours and is subject to an “exclusion zone” centred on Rochdale. He will be on the sex offenders' register for life, ordered to stay away from his victims, and banned from contacting any child or young person. His every movement will be tracked, and he will be forced to wear an electronic tag. Should he breach his conditions, he will be immediately locked up.
Background of the Crimes
For two years from early 2008, girls as young as 12 were plied with alcohol and drugs, gang-raped in rooms above takeaway shops, and ferried to different flats in taxis where cash was paid to use the girls for sex. At his trial, Ahmed called the judge a “racist b*****d” and took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming he did not get a fair trial. He was jailed for 19 years in 2012 at Liverpool Crown Court, one of nine men in the Rochdale grooming gang trial convicted of offences against five girls.
Police said the victims were from “chaotic” and “council estate” backgrounds and that as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang. Judge Gerald Clifton said victims were treated “as though they were worthless and beyond any respect” because they were not part of the gang’s community or religion. Greater Manchester Police said at the time there was no “racial or cultural” element to the crimes. A report later found that police did not act despite multiple concerns being raised, citing “serious multiple failures” by police and local authorities.
Comparable Cases and Legal Battles
Ahmed’s case follows a similar legal battle by two other gang members, Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan. Both were stripped of their British citizenship in 2022, 10 years after their convictions, after fighting a long legal battle which went all the way to the Court of Appeal. Both invoked their human rights under article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to a private and family life, to avoid deportation. The Home Office has not said if either have been deported.
Home Office Statement
A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: “Our thoughts are first and foremost with the victims of these appalling crimes. Ahmed’s horrific crimes were at the heart of the grooming gangs scandal that represents one of the darkest moments in our country's history. The most vulnerable people were abused and exploited at the hands of evil child rapists, and must face the full force of the law. On his release he will be on the sex offenders' register for life, ordered to stay away from his victims and banned from contacting any child or young person. As well as facing strict curfews and restriction zones, his every movement will be tracked, forced to wear an electronic tag. Should he breach his conditions, he will be immediately locked up.”
