Shabir Ahmed, the head of a Rochdale grooming gang that abused girls as young as 12, walked out of prison this week—but his victims say they feel “frightened” and “unsafe” after learning he cannot be deported to Pakistan because of a 55-year-old law.
Ahmed, who came to the UK in the late 1960s, was convicted in 2012 for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences. He held dual British-Pakistani citizenship at the time, but the courts stripped him of his British passport after he was jailed. It was expected he would be deported once his sentence was complete.
“Rochdale grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed released but cannot be deported due to 55-year-old law; victims frightened.”
Instead, victims were told this week that the Immigration Act 1971 bars the removal of any Commonwealth citizen who arrived before 1973 and has been in the country for five years. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has asked the home secretary to review the case after calls from Andy Burnham—widely expected to replace Starmer as prime minister this month—and others to change the law.
“We have raised this issue with our counterparts in Islamabad,” a No 10 spokesperson said, “and we are committed to doing everything possible to deport foreign national offenders … they should have no place in this country.” But the spokesperson acknowledged that deportation requires the agreement of the receiving country, which “has not always been possible,” and called it “a complex case with implications beyond this specific incident.”
Ahmed left prison on Thursday and is now in 24-hour staffed accommodation, wearing a GPS electronic tag. The Home Office has said any breach of his strict licence conditions would result in his immediate return to prison.
The UK government is exploring whether the 1971 law can be changed through an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill currently making its way through Parliament. If that succeeds, it would still face the diplomatic challenge of securing Pakistan’s agreement to accept Ahmed.
For now, his victims wait—frightened, and feeling unsafe.
