Rochdale grooming gang leader freed from prison - as No10 steps up efforts to have him deported
Shabir Ahmed, 73, known to his victims as “Daddy”, was freed today after serving 14 years in jail for multiple rape and sexual offences
Sir Keir Starmer has urged the Home Secretary to “consider what can be done” to deport a Rochdale grooming gang ringleader following his release from prison.
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Starmer has reportedly asked Shabana Mahmood to find a way to deport Shabir Ahmed, 73, known to his victims as “Daddy”, after his early release from prison earlier today.
Ahmed served just 14 years in jail following his conviction in 2012 for multiple rape and sexual offences against young girls.
Downing Street had earlier suggested it had no plans to change the law to remove him, despite public concern over his release.
In a statement released after the daily Downing Street briefing with journalists, a No 10 spokesperson said: “We are absolutely clear that where foreign nationals commit offences in the UK we will do everything in our power to remove them.
“This is a particularly heinous case, and the Prime Minister has asked the Home Secretary to consider what can be done to remove this individual from the UK.”
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It comes a day after PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham insisted “nothing is off the table” to ensure the ringleader of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang is deported, as he is set for release from prison in 24 hours.
Victims have also been told Ahmed cannot be deported to Pakistan despite being stripped of his British citizenship.
They have expressed fears for their safety once he is out of prison.
It comes as Downing Street denied it is unable to act in the case of Shabir Ahmed because it is waiting for a handover of power to the next prime minister.
Downing Street had confirmed it was previously unable to deport grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed because of the 1971 Immigration Act, suggesting it had no plans to change that legislation.
Asked about the case, a No 10 spokeswoman said: “Ahmed’s horrific crimes were at the heart of the grooming gangs scandal that represents one of the darkest moments in our country’s history.
Mr Burnham, who is expected to replace Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street without a leadership contest, said he wanted to see Ahmed removed from the country, and would ask senior Government ministers to find a way to ensure he is deported.
“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.
One, identified only as “Ruby”, is being supported by The Maggie Oliver Foundation, set up by Ms Oliver, an ex-police detective turned whistleblower over grooming gangs.
Ruby said: “I’m scared for my safety and my kids’ safety.
“The main ringleader is getting out of prison, who is well known in Rochdale, Oldham and Middleton, so even if he’s not in that area, he still knows people and has a chance to talk to people from that area and that makes me unsafe.”
In a statement issued through the foundation, Ruby said victims of abuse had been given “false promises” and left to “fend for themselves” through a lack of support from the authorities, and called for a change in the law to get grooming gang members deported.
Billy Howarth, from Parents Against Grooming UK in Rochdale, said another victim 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.”
Documents published online, apparently from the Probation Service to one of Ahmed’s victims, states he will be released on July 2 and cannot be deported back to Pakistan due to provisions in the Immigration Act 1971 which bar his removal.
These are that he arrived in the UK before 1973 and has lived in the UK for at least five years before his deportation was considered.
The failure to deport multiple men with dual nationality convicted of serious child sex offences in grooming gangs has caused deep anger in many communities and heaped pressure on politicians.
A national inquiry into grooming gangs was announced earlier this year after the Government came under increasing criticism.
Ahmed is reportedly being held at HMP Leeds and it is understood he will be released on licence with terms that he must initially live at accommodation which is staffed 24 hours, so will not return to his last known address on Windsor Avenue in Oldham and is subject to an “exclusion zone” centred on Rochdale.
For two years from early 2008, girls as young as 12 were plied with alcohol and drugs, gang-raped in rooms above takeaway shops and ferried to different flats in taxis where cash was paid to use the girls for sex.
Ahmed had worked as a taxi driver but was also employed by Oldham Council as a benefits rights worker and seconded to the Oldham Pakistani Community Centre.
At his trial, Ahmed called the judge a “racist bastard” and took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming he did not get a fair trial.
He was jailed for 19 years in 2012 at Liverpool Crown Court, one of nine men in the Rochdale grooming gang trial convicted of offences against five girls.
Police said the victims were from “chaotic”, “council estate” backgrounds and as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang.
Judge Gerald Clifton said victims were treated “as though they were worthless and beyond any respect” because they were not part of the gang’s community or religion.
Greater Manchester Police said at the time there was no “racial or cultural” element to the crimes.
A report later found police did not act despite multiple concerns being raised, citing “serious multiple failures” by police and local authorities.
Ahmed’s case follows a similar legal battle by two other gang members, Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan.
Both were stripped of their British citizenship in 2022, 10 years after their convictions, after fighting a long legal battle which went all the way to the Court of Appeal.
Both invoked their human rights under article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to a private and family life, to avoid deportation.
The Home Office has not said if either have been deported.
A spokeswoman for the Home Office said on Tuesday: “Our thoughts are first and foremost with the victims of these appalling crimes.
“On his release he will be on the sex offenders register for life, ordered to stay away from his victims and banned from contacting any child or young person.
“As well as facing strict curfews and restriction zones, his every movement will be tracked, forced to wear an electronic tag. Should he breach his conditions, he will be immediately locked up.”