The home secretary is expected to change the law on Monday to allow the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the freed ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang who raped and abused girls as young as 12. Shabana Mahmood will amend the 1971 Immigration Act, which currently prevents Ahmed from being removed from the UK because he arrived before 1973 and has lived here for five years.
Ahmed, 73, was released from prison last week after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for 30 child sexual offences including rape. Known to his victims as “Daddy”, he held dual British-Pakistani citizenship but was stripped of the British nationality after his 2012 conviction. Victims said they were “frightened” by his release and felt “unsafe”.
“Home secretary to amend 1971 Immigration Act to deport Rochdale grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed.”
A government source said officials had found a way to close the loophole without jeopardising the right to remain of other Commonwealth citizens, including the Windrush generation. “We are confident that there is a fix to deal with the domestic side of it but it is now down to the FCDO negotiations with Pakistan that will decide if [Ahmed] stays in the UK,” the source added.
Pakistan has so far refused to take Ahmed back, saying he renounced his Pakistani citizenship. The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, warned Ahmed was “almost certain” to lodge human rights claims under the European Convention on Human Rights to avoid deportation. Philp, who drafted a proposed amendment to close the loophole, said: “I am glad Labour have finally U-turned and agreed to do what we proposed days ago. They must do this in emergency legislation so we don’t lose any more time.”
Home Office minister Alex Norris told MPs the government was “examining every option” and had not given up. “I can assure the house we have not given up and will not,” he said, adding that the nature of the offending “demands we examine all options”. Conservative MP Katie Lam said the idea that a 55-year-old law barred deportation was “as absurd as it is sickening”.
Mahmood’s announcement will coincide with the second reading of the immigration and asylum bill. Paul Waugh, MP for Rochdale, said changing the law “would be the first step in giving victims the hope they never have to face him again”. The next step, he said, “is to make crystal clear to Pakistan that they should take him back.”