{"id":203030,"date":"2026-06-30T20:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/30\/government-cannot-deport-grooming-gang-ringleader\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T20:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:50:21","slug":"government-cannot-deport-grooming-gang-ringleader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/30\/government-cannot-deport-grooming-gang-ringleader\/","title":{"rendered":"Government ‘cannot deport’ grooming gang ringleader"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The ringleader of a notorious Rochdale grooming gang is set to be released from jail this week and cannot be deported, his victims have been told.<\/b><\/p>\n

Shabir Ahmed, 73, known to his victims as “Daddy”, had dual British-Pakistani citizenship but was stripped of the former following his conviction in 2012 for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls.<\/p>\n

Documents shared online, reportedly from the Probation Service to one of his victims, state that he will be released on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The Home Office said Ahmed’s crimes were “appalling” and that he would be subject to stringent licence conditions upon his release from prison. <\/p>\n

Ahmed must initially live in supervised accommodation 24\/7 and will be subject to an “exclusion zone” centred on Rochdale.<\/p>\n

The papers published online said Ahmed cannot be deported back to Pakistan due to provisions under the Immigration Act 1971. <\/p>\n

The act says because Ahmed arrived in the UK before 1973 and lived in the country for at least five years before his deportation was considered, his removal is barred. <\/p>\n

Following the news, one of the Rochdale gang’s victims told how she has been left feeling “scared for my safety”.<\/p>\n

The girl, who was sexually abused from the age of 12, told BBC Newsnight Ahmed was well-known in Rochdale, Oldham and Middleton.<\/p>\n

“Even if he is not in those areas, he still knows people and could contact them, which makes me feel unsafe,” she said.<\/p>\n

“At the end of the trial, we were told they would all be deported once released, but not one of them has been deported. <\/p>\n

“There are always false promises.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2022, Andy Burnham, likely to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, called on the Conservative government “to do everything within [its] power” to deport members of grooming gangs.<\/p>\n

Paul Waugh, MP for Rochdale, told The Daily Telegraph: “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. <\/p>\n

“If the Citizenship Act needs to be amended to do that, ministers should look at doing just that.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Ahmed was described in court as a “violent, hypocritical bully”. <\/p>\n

At his trial, he called the judge a “racist” and took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming he had not received a fair trial.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Police said as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang, and that many of them had come from “chaotic”, “council estate” backgrounds.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Greater Manchester Police said at the time there was no “racial or cultural” element to the crimes.<\/p>\n

A report later found that police had not acted despite multiple concerns being raised. It said there had been “serious multiple failures” by police and local authorities.<\/p>\n

Ahmed’s case follows a similar legal battle by two other gang members, Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan.<\/p>\n

Both were stripped of their British citizenship in 2022 after fighting a long legal battle which went all the way to the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Home Office has not said if either man had been deported.<\/p>\n

A Home Office spokesperson said: “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.<\/p>\n

“The most vulnerable people were abused and exploited at the hands of evil child rapists, and must face the full force of the law.”<\/p>\n

It said Ahmed must sign the sex offenders’ register for life and any breach of his licence conditions would result in him being “immediately locked up”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The victim, who previously spoke about her abuse in 2024, said she was “still getting failed” by a “broken system”.<\/p>\n

“I was 12 years old when this started and still getting failed,” she said. <\/p>\n

“Twenty years on, things need to change.<\/p>\n

“There has been no support for the victims of the abused, the offender is being released from prison in less than two days.”<\/p>\n

“There is no team of people in place – despite the government saying there would be a dedicated team for victims – and that has not been done.<\/p>\n

“There are broken victims because of a broken system. <\/p>\n

“I am scared for my safety and my children’s safety.<\/p>\n

“Victims are left to fend for themselves because there is no support.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tell us which stories we should cover in Greater Manchester<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Listen to the best of <\/i>BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds<\/i> and follow BBC Manchester on <\/i>Facebook<\/i>, external<\/span>, <\/i>X<\/i>, external<\/span><\/a>, and <\/i>Instagram<\/i>, external<\/span>. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n