Rochdale Rape Gang Leader is Released from Prison After Just 14 Years as No. 10 Insists it is Powerless to Deport Him
The leader of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang – convicted of 30 child rapes – has been released from prison today after serving just 14 years – less than six months per rape – as Downing Street insists it is powerless to deport him. The Mail has more.
Shabir Ahmed, 73, walked free from HMP Leeds on Thursday and is set to begin life in a bail hostel in the north of England, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of £120 a night.
He is moving in to a facility close to Rochdale, where many of his victims still live, and is wearing a GPS tag.
Ahmed – who instructed his victims to call him ‘Daddy’ – is a Pakistani national who acquired British citizenship through naturalisation. He plied girls as young as 13 with drink and drugs before ‘passing them around’ to be abused by him and eight associates.
Despite his conviction in 2012, his victims – most of them white working-class girls – have been told he cannot be deported to Pakistan because of a legal loophole.
They have also voiced fears for their safety now the Rochdale grooming gang leader is free after serving 14 years of a 19-year sentence.
The Ministry of Justice has refused to say if he is out of jail, citing “security reasons”, but a source told the Daily Mail: “Ahmed has already been released. He is in a secure placement just outside the GMP area.”
Ahmed held dual British-Pakistani citizenship and was stripped of his British citizenship following his conviction. Yet the Government insists it has no legal powers to remove him from the UK.
Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham has said he will ask senior Ministers to find a way to deport Ahmed, declaring that “nothing is off the table”.
But he was undermined by Downing Street today, where Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said Ahmed had an “exemption from deportation” under UK law.
“Ahmed’s horrific crimes were at the heart of the grooming gang scandal which represents one of the darkest moments in our country’s history. He will rightly be on the sex offenders’ register for life, ordered to stay away from his victims and banned from contacting any child or young person,” she told reporters.
“His every movement will be tracked and he will be forced to wear an electronic tag. In this specific case we cannot deport someone who is protected by the 1971 Immigration Act, these are the same provisions which have protected many individuals caught up in the Windrush crisis.”
Asked if Starmer is frustrated at the law blocking Ahmed’s deportation, the spokesman added: “It is fair to say the PM would always want to see these vile criminals deported.”
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesperson added that the PM has asked the Home Secretary to look into all options including “what can be done to remove this individual from the UK”.
Ahmed has spent years fighting deportation to Pakistan at taxpayers’ expense, citing human rights laws and arguing that his removal from the UK would affect the welfare of his children.
After his convictions, he complained it was because there were ‘eleven white jurors’ at his trial, adding: “It’s become fashionable to blame everything on Muslims these days.”
Worth reading in full.
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Vigilantes take to streets as grooming gang ringleader released
Victims of Shabir Ahmed say they are ‘living in fear’ and refusing to leave their homes
Vigilantes are taking to the streets of Rochdale after a Pakistani grooming gang ringleader was released from prison.
A group organised by local campaigner Billy Howarth will patrol the area in the coming days, with police remaining on standby.
Shabir Ahmed, 73, who was convicted of 30 child rape offences as part of the grooming gang, was released on Thursday and cannot be deported despite being stripped of his British citizenship.
Ahmed’s victims have demanded greater protection from Greater Manchester Police over fears that they will be targeted by him or his associates. Existing police security measures have been tightened in response to the concerns, it is understood.
Mr Howarth said the paedophile’s victims were so terrified by his release that they were not leaving their homes.
He said: “He wasn’t just a child rapist – he is the devil incarnate. He must be kept in jail or deported – no questions asked. What I’ve managed to do is get a s–tload of Rochdale lads together as rapid response… [Residents] will be protected.
“I want a security guard paid for by the Government outside their house until they feel safe. I believe they should have either manned security or a police officer outside their homes at all times.”
On Thursday, Ruby, one of Ahmed’s victims – whose name has been changed to protect her identity – said she was living in fear.
“I am scared for my safety and my children’s safety,” she said. “The main ringleader, who is well known in Rochdale, Oldham and Middleton, is being released from prison.
[…]
Ahmed, who was jailed for 22 years in 2012 for multiple rape and child sexual offences in Rochdale, will be banned from entering Rochdale or nearby Oldham under his licence conditions.
The paedophile will also be tagged with a GPS tracker, banned from being in contact with children and placed in accommodation manned 24/7 by staff ready to alert police.
Police are ready to apprehend Ahmed if he returns to the area in breach of his licence conditions, which are monitored by the probation service.
However, he cannot be deported because of a loophole in the Immigration Act 1971, which exempts Commonwealth citizens who arrived in Britain before 1973 from removal.
As a Pakistani who arrived when Pakistan was a member of the Commonwealth, Ahmed has lived in the UK long enough to qualify for the exemption.
[…]
The Home Office said it was considering closing the loophole and “doing everything possible” to deport foreign offenders.
However, there are concerns that even if the law were changed, Pakistan would be likely to resist his return. It has refused to take back two of Ahmed’s co-ringleaders in the nine-man Rochdale grooming gang who were also stripped of British citizenship.
The Telegraph: continue reading
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