Shabir Ahmed, the Rochdale grooming gang leader convicted of 30 counts of child rape, walked free from prison last week after serving a 22-year sentence. But Pakistan has refused to take him back, and a 55-year-old law has stopped the Home Office from deporting him — until now.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is due to set out plans to amend the 1971 Immigration Act, a law originally intended to give stronger rights to certain Commonwealth immigrants. The act has been cited as the legal barrier preventing Ahmed’s removal.
“Home secretary plans to change 1971 Immigration Act to deport grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed, released last week.”
Ahmed has ripped up his passport and renounced his Pakistani citizenship, complicating further. The British government is now expected to get tough with Islamabad, with the hope that other grooming gang members will also face deportation on release.
But the legal hurdles do not end there. Senior Conservatives have warned that Ahmed’s lawyers will inevitably claim he has a right to a family life under human rights laws. While the Tories and Reform have committed to leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, Labour still considers the ECHR to be untouchable — a stance that critics say will benefit monsters like Ahmed.
Mahmood’s proposed amendment is widely seen as a necessary first step, but alone it may not be enough to ensure Ahmed is removed from British soil.