Council calls for Rochdale grooming gang leader deportation

Mr Ahmed, now 73, has already been stripped of his British citizenship and is left with only Pakistani nationality.

The Government has already started the process of making changes to the law to allow the deportation of the convicted rapist and sex offender.

At the latest town hall meeting in Rochdale, councillors urged the government to end the legal loophole in the Immigration Act 1971 that prevented the deportation of Mr Ahmed and other offenders.

The 1971 law currently forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.

A motion, tabled by council leader Neil Emmott, also provided support to all victims of the grooming gang, who have to live with the devastating impacts of their crimes.

Cllr Emmott said: “For those survivors of grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation (CSE), every time this comes back into the media it tears a scab off the wound of those victims.  

“Shabir Ahmed was the leader of the grooming gang and sexually exploited those women in our community. He showed no remorse at that trial.

“Let’s see him deported.”

Reform, Workers, Conservatives and Lib Dems all agreed the grooming gang leader should be deported.

But Workers Party’s Cllr Mohammed Shafiq said all foreign nationals committing heinous crimes should be deported, no matter their race or ethnicity. 

This statement was repeated amongst councillors across the chamber in Rochdale Town Hall. 

Rochdale Town Hall. Uploaded by George Lythgoe. Credit: LDRS. free to use for LDRS partners

Cllr Shah Wazir simply said: “He is an evil man. We don’t want him in this country.”

Shabir Ahmed was one of nine in the grooming gang who exploited young girls at two takeaways from 2007. He was jailed in 2012 for 22 years for his crimes but was released earlier this month after serving 14 years of his sentence.

He is currently unable to return to his address in Oldham and is banned from parts of Rochdale.

The government has announced plans to change the law in order to facilitate his removal from the country. However Pakistan is continuing to resist any move to return him there.