Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang who was known to his victims as ‘Daddy’, has walked free from HMP Leeds after serving just 14 years of a 22-year sentence – and the law says he cannot be deported. His release, on Thursday, has triggered a wave of fear among the girls he raped, a vigilante patrol in his home town, and a political scramble to close a 55-year-old loophole.
Ahmed, 73, was jailed in 2012 for 30 child rape offences. He held dual British and Pakistani citizenship at the time of his conviction, but the courts stripped him of his British citizenship after he was jailed. Victims were promised he would be deported on completion of his sentence. Instead, the Home Office confirmed that the Immigration Act 1971 bars the removal of any Commonwealth citizen who arrived in the UK before 1973 and had been in the country for five years. Ahmed came to Britain in the late 1960s.
“Rochdale grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed released after 14 years; victims say they feel unsafe and demand deportation amid legal loophole.”
One victim, identified only as ‘Ruby’, told the BBC: “I was 12 years old when this started and still getting failed. There are broken victims because of a broken system. I am scared for my safety and my children’s safety. The main ringleader, who is well known in Rochdale, Oldham and Middleton, is being released from prison.” Maggie Oliver, the former police officer who runs The Maggie Oliver Foundation and supports Ruby, said she had “never known her in this much of a panic”. Ruby has asked Greater Manchester Police for “personal safety mechanisms” but, according to Oliver, “nothing has been offered to her”.
Another victim, ‘Amber’, told the Centre for Women's Justice: “I am absolutely furious that no one contacted me to tell me that Shabir Ahmed was going to be released – not the Prison Service, not Victim Liaison, no one. I had to find out about it from the media.” She said she had been physically sick and had rung her children’s school because she feared for their safety. “He has contacts in Rochdale. They operated as a gang – so even if he stays out of Rochdale, he could still get other men to do what he wants.”
Elizabeth Harper, a survivor whose own rapist, Asghar Bostan, was released early in 2022 and then spotted near her house in Rotherham in 2024, said: “The fear is real, and it does come true sometimes. It just goes to show how the system really isn’t working.”
On the streets of Rochdale, local campaigner Billy Howarth has organised a group of volunteers to patrol the area in the coming days. “He wasn’t just a child rapist – he is the devil incarnate,” Howarth said. “What I’ve managed to do is get a s--tload of Rochdale lads together as rapid response. Residents will be protected.” Howarth called for a government-funded security guard to be placed outside every victim’s home. Greater Manchester Police remain on standby, and existing security measures have been tightened, according to the force.
Politicians have reacted with urgency. Sir Keir Starmer has asked the home secretary to review the case. The Leader of the House, Sir Alan Campbell, said officials were “exploring every option”. Andy Burnham, expected to become Labour leader and prime minister in the coming weeks, wrote: “Like everyone, I want this vile criminal out of the country. Victims must come first. I will ask the home and foreign secretaries to review all possible options – and they should consider nothing is off the table.” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said her party would try to amend the government’s Immigration and Asylum Bill “to close the loophole so that this man can be deported immediately”. A No 10 spokeswoman confirmed Ahmed would be on the sex offenders register for life, banned from contacting any child, and forced to wear an electronic tag in 24-hour staffed accommodation. But for his victims, that offers little comfort. As Ruby put it: “I’ve been hurt and failed again.”