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UK in talks with Pakistan about deporting grooming gang leader

Image source, GMP

Image caption,

Shabir Ahmed was the head of a gang which abused girls as young as 12

By Joshua Nevett

Political reporter

Published 3 July 2026

UK government officials are in talks with Pakistan about the possibility of deporting a Rochdale grooming gang ringleader to the country.

Shabir Ahmed was released from jail this week, after being convicted in 2012 for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls.

Ahmed had dual British-Pakistani citizenship but was stripped of his UK passport following his conviction.

But this week his victims were told that Ahmed could not be deported to Pakistan because of a 55-year-old law that bars his removal.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has asked the home secretary to review the case following calls for the law to be changed to allow Ahmed to be removed from the UK.

Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to replace Sir Keir as prime minister this month, was among those calling for Ahmed to be deported.

When asked about the government's progress on the case, a No 10 spokesperson said: "We have raised this issue with our counterparts in Islamabad and we are committed to doing everything possible to deport foreign national offenders, and we're clear that they should have no place in this country.

"As previous governments have found, this necessarily involves the agreement of the receiving country - which has not always been possible - but we are currently working across government to explore all possible options in this case."

The PM's spokesperson said while the UK would "do everything in our power to remove" Ahmed, they stressed this was "clearly a complex case with implications beyond this specific incident".

The BBC understands Ahmed left prison on Thursday and is now in 24-hour staffed accommodation, wearing a GPS electronically monitored tag.

The Home Office has said any breach of Ahmed's strict licence conditions would result in him being immediately returned to prison.

But some of his victims said they were "frightened" by his release, and they felt "unsafe".

Diplomatic challenge

Ahmed, who came to the UK in the late 1960s, held dual British and Pakistani citizenship at the time he was convicted.

His British citizenship was stripped by the courts after he was jailed, and it was expected he would be deported when his sentence was complete.

Earlier this week, victims of the gang were told provisions under the Immigration Act 1971 barred the removal of any Commonwealth citizen who arrived in the UK before 1973 and had been in the country for five years.

The BBC understands the UK government is considering whether the 1971 law could be changed through an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.

But once any legislative hurdles are cleared, the UK government would face the diplomatic challenge of getting Pakistan to agree to accept Ahmed's deportation to the country.

That would require co-operation from Pakistani authorities, something that has proved elusive in similar cases in the past.

Pakistan has previously refused to take back two of Ahmed's co-ringleaders in the nine-man Rochdale grooming gang.

Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan could not be deported despite being stripped of their British citizenship in 2018.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the government should consider cutting foreign aid to Pakistan if it refuses to take Ahmed back.

He told GB News: "If a British citizen commits a criminal offence somewhere else or is in another country illegally, of course, we take back our own citizens.

"So we expect other countries, like Pakistan, to do the same when the boot is on the other foot."

Ahmed was jailed for 22 years in 2012, one of nine men in the Rochdale grooming gang trial convicted of offences against children.

Police said as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang, and that many of them had come from chaotic, "council estate" backgrounds.

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 that police had not acted despite multiple concerns being raised. It said there had been "serious multiple failures" by police and local authorities.

More on this story

Grooming gang leader released from prison

*   Published 1 day ago

Burnham calls for grooming gang ringleader to be deported

*   Published 2 days ago

Government 'cannot deport' grooming gang ringleader

*   Published 3 days ago

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UK in talks with Pakistan about deporting grooming gang leader

UK in talks with Pakistan about deporting grooming gang leader

Diplomatic challenge

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