Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to amend the 1971 Immigration Act to clear the way for the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the freed ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, after the decades-old law was found to be blocking his removal from the UK following his release from prison last week.
The UK government is preparing to change immigration law to allow for the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, Britannia Daily has been told. According to reporting first published by the Telegraph, Mahmood is expected to set out her plans on Monday to amend the 1971 Immigration Act, the legislation currently preventing Ahmed’s removal from the country. Ahmed, 73, was released on licence last week after being jailed for 22 years in August 2012 for a series of child sexual offences, including rape.
The Legal Barrier to Deportation
At the centre of the issue is a provision within the 55-year-old Immigration Act that bars the removal of any Commonwealth citizen who arrived in the UK before 1973 and had lived in the country for at least five years. Ahmed originally held dual British-Pakistani citizenship, but had his British citizenship stripped following his 2012 conviction. Despite this, his victims were told at the time of his release that he could not be deported to Pakistan because of the protections afforded under the 1971 Act.
Life After Release
Known to his victims as “Daddy,” Ahmed was moved into 24-hour staffed accommodation upon leaving prison and fitted with an electronically monitored GPS tag as part of his licence conditions. The prospect of legislative change now raises the possibility that the barrier preventing his deportation could soon be removed, though the precise details of Mahmood’s proposed amendment are expected to be set out on Monday.
