Mahmood set to change law to allow deportation of Rochdale grooming gang leader

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

Shabana Mahmood will set out plans on Monday to amend a 1971 law preventing the removal of Shabir Ahmed, 73, from the UK.

Ahmed was released on July 2 after serving 14 years since his conviction in 2012 for rape and sexual offences against girls, some as young as 12.

He had been sentenced to 19 years in prison.

According to The Telegraph, which first reported Ms Mahmood’s plans, it is not clear whether the changes will come under separate fast-tracked legislation or as an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which is due to be debated in the Commons on Monday.

A Home Office minister indicated earlier this week that the Government could consider emergency legislation.

Read more: Police investigating £40k donation to Robert Jenrick's campaign to become Tory leader

Read more: Pictured: Wife and two daughters, aged five and 15, found dead in family mansion as father flees to Zimbabwe

Alex Norris said “all options are on the table” as the Conservatives urged him to adopt an amendment to the Bill put forward by the shadow home secretary.

Ahmed is currently exempt from deportation but Mr Norris said the Government would not give up in its efforts to deport Ahmed due to his “heinous” crimes.

The Government has been examining ways to deport Ahmed since his release last week.

The 1971 law forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago, and have lived in the UK for at least five years.

The home secretary is expected to say that officials have found a way to close this loophole without jeopardising the rights of other Commonwealth citizens, including the Windrush migrants.

Reports have suggested Pakistan might not accept Ahmed because he had previously renounced his citizenship, but a Number 10 spokesperson confirmed it has raised the issue with officials in Islamabad.

Mr Burnham, who is expected to replace Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street without a leadership contest, has said he wanted to see Ahmed removed from the country.

“Like everyone, I want this vile criminal out of the country. Victims must come first,” he wrote on social media site X.

He added: “I will ask the Home and Foreign Secretaries to review all possible options – and they should consider nothing is off the table.”

In 2022, when he was mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham called on the Tory government “to do everything within… the government’s power” to deport grooming gang members.

Victims have shared their fears about Ahmed’s release.

Billy Howarth, from Parents Against Grooming UK in Rochdale, said one of Ahmed's victims had given him a statement about the release.

She said: “The pending/recent release of Shabir Ahmed from prison has had a profound and debilitating impact on my life.

“I live in a constant state of hypervigilance, fearing for my physical safety every time I leave my home.

“This fear has caused severe anxiety, disrupted my sleep, and forced me to drastically alter my daily routines and social life simply to avoid a potential confrontation.

“The psychological toll is exhausting, and I feel unable to live freely or safely while this individual poses an unmonitored risk to my wellbeing.”