Grooming gang ringleader at centre of deportation row released

A grooming gang leader at the centre of a deportation row has been released from prison, it is understood.

Shabir Ahmed served 14 years for multiple rape and sexual offences against young girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

Ahmed has been stripped of his British citizenship, leaving him with only Pakistani nationality.

There had been calls to deport the 73-year-old but documents published online, apparently sent from the Probation Service to one of his victims, state he cannot be deported back to Pakistan due to a 55-year-old law that bars his removal.

Sir Keir Starmer has now asked Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to review the case amid calls for the law to be changed to allow him to be deported.

Downing Street said the prime minister had asked Ms Mahmood to consider options for ensuring Ahmed's deportation, describing his case as "particularly heinous".

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In a statement, Number 10 said: "We are absolutely clear that where foreign nationals commit offences in the UK we will do everything in our power to remove them."

Ahmed's impending release brought calls for action from politicians, including the likely future prime minister Andy Burnham - who urged senior ministers to "review all possible options" for his deportation.

In the Commons, the Labour MP for Rochdale, Paul Waugh, said Ahmed should be deported, urging the Foreign Office to "do everything possible within their power" to ensure he is forced out of the country.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said her party would attempt to amend the government's Immigration and Asylum Bill "to close the loophole so that this man can be deported immediately".

Victims have expressed concern over 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.

Ahmed was sentenced to 19 years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court in 2012 as one of nine men convicted of offences against five girls.

(c) Sky News 2026: Grooming gang ringleader at centre of deportation row released