The long-awaited release of Shabir Ahmed, the notorious ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, is now imminent, with victims set to face a deeply unsettling reality: he cannot be deported from the UK. Despite having his dual British-Pakistan citizenship revoked following his conviction in 2012 for numerous counts of rape and sexual offences against young girls, documents reportedly from the Probation Service indicate that Ahmed's removal to Pakistan is prohibited under the Immigration Act 1971.
The specific provision within the Act applies to individuals who arrived in the UK before 1973 and had resided in the country for a minimum of five years before any deportation consideration. This legal quirk has left the Home Office unable to remove Ahmed, despite his having no valid claim to British citizenship. The situation has sparked widespread concern and anger among victims and the wider public, particularly given the severity of Ahmed's crimes.
Upon his release from prison – expected around 2nd July – Ahmed will be subject to stringent licence conditions. He must initially reside in accommodation with 24-hour staffing, adhere to an 'exclusion zone' centred on Rochdale, and face restrictions on contact with children or young people. Furthermore, he will be placed on the sex offender register for life, forced to wear an electronic tag, and subject to intense monitoring of his movements by the authorities.
The inability to deport Ahmed has reignited debate among politicians regarding immigration legislation. In 2022, Andy Burnham urged the Conservative government to utilise all available powers to deport grooming gang members. More recently, Paul Waugh, Labour MP for Rochdale, suggested that ministers should consider amending the Immigration Act if necessary to enable Ahmed's removal, stating that the people of Rochdale wish for him to be 'removed from our community'.
Ahmed was one of nine men convicted in the 2012 trial of the Rochdale grooming gang, which exposed the systematic abuse of girls as young as 12. The victims were plied with alcohol and drugs, transported between locations, and subjected to gang rape. At the time of his conviction, Ahmed received a 19-year sentence at Liverpool crown court. Greater Manchester Police initially stated there was no 'racial or cultural' element to the offending, though a subsequent report highlighted 'serious multiple failures' by police and local authorities who failed to act on numerous concerns.