Ministers Explore Deporting Rochdale Grooming Gang Ringleader Shabir Ahmed To Pakistan

Shabir Ahmed, 73, convicted of 30 child rape offences as part of a Rochdale grooming gang, was due to be freed from prison on Thursday after ministers said officials were exploring every option to deport him.

The BBC said Ahmed was jailed for 22 years in August 2012 and that a 55-year-old law barred deportation because any Commonwealth citizen who arrived in the UK before 1973 and had been here for at least five years cannot be deported.

BBC

The Telegraph said Andy Burnham demanded ministers do everything possible to deport the Pakistani grooming gang ringleader and that Ahmed is protected from deportation by a loophole in the Immigration Act of 1971 that exempts Commonwealth citizens like him who arrived in the UK before 1973.

Sky News reported that Ahmed has been stripped of his British citizenship, leaving him with only Pakistani nationality, and that documents published online state he cannot be deported back to Pakistan due to a 55-year-old law that bars his removal.

Victims told broadcasters they fear Ahmed’s release, with Ruby saying she was “still getting failed” and that she was “scared for my safety and my children’s safety.”

In a statement to the BBC, Ruby said: “There has been no support for the victims of the abuse, the offender is being released from prison.”

BBC

The BBC quoted Sir Alan Campbell saying “the government is exploring every option in this case,” while Labour Minister for Skills Baroness Jacqui Smith said the government was “doing everything we can to get this guy out of the country”.

The Guardian reported that documents published online, apparently sent by the Probation Service to one of his victims, say Ahmed cannot be deported to Pakistan due to provisions in the Immigration Act 1971.

Politicians and ministers discussed changing the Immigration Act 1971, with the BBC saying the government is considering whether the 1971 law could be changed through an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill.

The Guardian said Ahmed is prevented from being removed because he arrived in the UK before 1973 and had lived in the country for at least five years before deportation was considered, and it said he is due to be freed on 2 July and will be released on licence.

The Guardian also reported that Ahmed will initially live at accommodation with 24-hour staffing and be subject to an “exclusion zone” centred on Rochdale, while the Home Office spokesperson said his every movement will be tracked and he will be forced to wear an electronic tag.

The Times of India said Labour was considering bringing emergency legislation and quoted Alex Norris saying “all options are on the table,” while it also reported fears that Pakistan may not accept him and Norris’s response that the UK wants to work closely with Pakistan to remove people with no right to be here.