Home Secretary Outlines Legal Strategy to Deport Convicted Grooming Gang Leader

On Monday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce the legal measures she intends to employ to deport the released leader of the Rochdale grooming gang.

Shabir Ahmed, who received a 22‑year sentence in 2012 for numerous child sexual offences, including rape, was released on licence earlier this month.

Politicians from across the spectrum have intensified calls for Ahmed’s deportation, after his British citizenship was revoked following his conviction, leaving him with solely Pakistani nationality.

However, a 1971 statute prevents his deportation because it bars the removal of a limited group of Commonwealth nationals who settled in the UK over 50 years ago.

It remains uncertain how Mahmood will amend the legislation.

Moreover, Pakistan seems unwilling to accept Ahmed, who says he has renounced his Pakistani citizenship.

Ahmed was among nine men from Rochdale and Oldham convicted of exploiting girls as young as 13 at two takeaway restaurants.

Following his release, Ahmed was placed in 24‑hour staffed accommodation and equipped with a GPS‑monitoring tag.

While in the UK, the government warned he would be returned to prison should he violate the strict licence conditions.

Some victims reported feeling frightened and unsafe after his release.

At the time of his release, his victims were informed he could not be deported to Pakistan under the 1975 Immigration Act, which prohibits removing any Commonwealth citizen who arrived before 1973 and had resided in the UK for five years.

Ahmed remains exempt from deportation despite his British citizenship being stripped at the time of his imprisonment.

The home secretary will outline the legal steps she intends to take to address this issue.

The timeframe for legislative change is unknown, though a government source once suggested it might take up to a year.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp suggested that Pakistan could face sanctions if it refuses to accept Ahmed.

“We can employ measures such as visa sanctions, halting visa issuance to countries that do not repatriate their citizens,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The Conservatives are urging the introduction of emergency legislation or an amendment to the current immigration bill, arguing that revising the 1971 Act would be too slow.

Philp noted that emergency legislation could effect a change within weeks, whereas ordinary regulatory processes might require about a year.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for Sir Keir told reporters, “We are examining every possible option, including engaging with the Pakistani authorities.”

Mahmood’s expected announcement follows less than a week after survivors of grooming gangs called for sex offenders to be excluded from early release.

Source link