Pakistani-Born Grooming Gang Leader At Centre Of UK Deportation RowPublished By :,Last Updated: July 03, 2026, 22:32 ISTAhmed, 73, was released this week under an early release scheme and is now living in monitored accommodation while being tracked with a GPS electronic tag.
Calls For Deportation GrowAhmed’s release has renewed political pressure on the UK government to remove him from the country.
Andy Burnham, widely expected to succeed Keir Starmer as Britain’s new prime minister later this month, is leading calls for the deportation of the grooming gang ringleader.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also criticised the decision, calling Ahmed “a monster" and demanding his deportation to Pakistan.
Pakistani-Born Grooming Gang Leader At Centre Of UK Deportation RowDisclaimer: Comments reflect users’ views, not News18’s.
Who Is Shabir Ahmed? Pakistani-Born Grooming Gang Leader At Centre Of UK Deportation Row
Published By :
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Last Updated: July 03, 2026, 22:32 IST
Ahmed, 73, was released this week under an early release scheme and is now living in monitored accommodation while being tracked with a GPS electronic tag.
Ahmed was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to 22 years in prison for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences involving teenage girls in Rochdale. (Image via X)
Shabir Ahmed, the convicted ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, has been released from prison after serving 14 years for multiple rape and sexual offences against young girls, reigniting calls for his deportation from the United Kingdom.
Ahmed, 73, was released on Thursday under an early release scheme and is now living in monitored accommodation while being tracked with a GPS electronic tag.
A UK Probation Service letter sent to victims revealed that he cannot currently be deported under provisions of the Immigration Act 1971, which protects certain Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before 1973 and had lived in the country for at least five years. Reports also suggest Pakistan has been reluctant to accept his return.
Who Is Shabir Ahmed?
Ahmed was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to 22 years in prison for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences involving vulnerable teenage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. He was identified as the ringleader of a group of nine men who groomed and sexually abused children over several years.
During the trial, victims said Ahmed, whom they referred to as “Daddy", gained their trust by offering food, cigarettes and alcohol before subjecting them to repeated sexual abuse.
Following his conviction, he was stripped of his British citizenship but retained Pakistani nationality.
Responding to his release, a spokesperson for 10 Downing Street said Ahmed’s crimes were “at the heart of the grooming gangs scandal" and called them as one of the “darkest moments" in Britain’s history.
“He will rightly be on the sex offenders register for life, ordered to stay away from his victims and banned from contacting any child or young person. His every movement will be tracked, and forced to wear an electronic tag," the spokesperson added.
Calls For Deportation Grow
Ahmed’s release has renewed political pressure on the UK government to remove him from the country. The government is considering whether the Immigration Act 1971 can be amended through the Immigration and Asylum Bill currently before Parliament.
Andy Burnham, widely expected to succeed Keir Starmer as Britain’s new prime minister later this month, is leading calls for the deportation of the grooming gang ringleader.
On Thursday, Burnham said he would ask the UK Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary to review “all possible options" to deport Ahmed, adding that “victims must come first" and “nothing is off the table".
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also criticised the decision, calling Ahmed “a monster" and demanding his deportation to Pakistan.
“This monster is now free, having served just 14 years in prison. Ahmed is not British. He’s a Pakistani national. He must be deported. But Labour say he can’t be," Farage wrote on X Friday.
(With inputs from agencies)
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First Published: July 03, 2026, 22:25 IST
News world Who Is Shabir Ahmed? Pakistani-Born Grooming Gang Leader At Centre Of UK Deportation Row
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