A victim of Shabir Ahmed has been placed under police protection following his release from prison, as Sir Keir Starmer personally intervenes to explore ways of deporting the grooming gang ringleader despite a legal loophole standing in the way.
A victim of the Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed has been given additional police protection following his release from prison this week, with Greater Manchester Police treating her as a “high risk victim.” Ahmed, 73, walked out of HMP Leeds on licence after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence, prompting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to ask Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to examine every available option for his deportation. Ahmed cannot currently be removed from the UK due to a loophole in the Immigration Act 1971, despite having his British citizenship stripped.
‘I’m Scared for My Safety’
The victim, named only as Ruby, was 12 when her abuse began, and has said she was plied with vodka and cigarettes before being raped “continuously” by up to 40 men, according to The Times. Now 32, she has been given an “urgent response marker” by Greater Manchester Police, allowing officers to be rapidly deployed to her home following Ahmed’s release on Thursday. She met with senior officers last week who were told she “does not feel safe with Ahmed in the community,” and has also been provided with an app on her phone that she can use to alert police if she feels threatened. The Sun had previously reported that Ahmed was deemed “unsafe” to be released and a “high risk” to children before he was freed.
Ruby had already been forced into an unexpected face-to-face encounter with one of her attackers in a local shop after he was released from jail halfway through his sentence, without being informed in advance.
Maggie Oliver: ‘None of That Was Done for Her’
Maggie Oliver, the former Greater Manchester Police detective constable who resigned in 2012 after exposing the authorities’ failures in the case, said she met with GMP last week to ensure Ruby had security in place at her home in Rochdale, saying “none of that was done for her” in the past. “She’s been set up now for her safety. She’s in a mess. She’s fearful, and rightly so. She’s been threatened at gunpoint, her and Amber, and told not to go to the police. That man was never prosecuted,” she said. Amber, another victim who was raped and sexually exploited by Ahmed, said in a statement: “I am absolutely furious that no one contacted me to tell me that Shabir Ahmed was going to be released – not the Prison Service, not Victim Liaison, no one.”
Oliver said other victims had also seen their security stepped up since Ahmed’s release, though many had not been told he had been freed. Some victims told The Sunday Times they “have no idea” where their abusers now live and had not been in contact with authorities for years.
Concerns Over How Victims Were Told
Jim McMahon, Labour MP for Oldham, said some survivors — particularly women whose abuse never formed part of the original criminal trial — were never contacted by authorities before Ahmed’s release, and instead learned of it through social media. He said victims “deserve better” than finding out that way. Victims’ groups and lawyers say many survivors have experienced renewed anxiety as a result, arguing the case exposes continuing failures in victim communication even where strict licence conditions are in place.
Sara Rowbotham, the former sexual health worker whose warnings about the abuse were repeatedly ignored before the scandal came to light, said Ahmed’s release is “really scary” and questioned whether probation monitoring alone can adequately protect victims and the public.
Strict Licence Conditions
Ahmed, a former taxi driver who forced his victims to call him “Daddy,” will now be heavily monitored by the authorities. In addition to living in approved accommodation, he is subject to electronic GPS monitoring, a curfew, lifetime registration as a sex offender, and exclusion zones preventing him from entering Rochdale and parts of Oldham. Any breach of these conditions could see him recalled to prison. He will be housed in a bail hostel in the north of England, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of £120 a night.
Starmer Intervenes Over Deportation
Victims of the paedophile ring, including Ruby, were previously promised that Ahmed would be deported after his release. However, a loophole in the Immigration Act 1971 forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago, and Ahmed falls within that category despite losing his British citizenship. The Prime Minister has personally intervened, asking Shabana Mahmood to review the case and explore every available option to secure his deportation, describing it as a “particularly heinous” case. Downing Street said the government would do everything within its power to remove foreign nationals who commit serious offences in the UK.
Rochdale MP Paul Waugh has urged the Foreign Office to pursue every diplomatic avenue available to ensure Ahmed is removed from the country if legally possible. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said victims must come first, pledging that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to considering legal or diplomatic options for removing Ahmed from the UK. Separately, Mahmood is planning to scrap the legal loophole that is currently preventing his deportation, and the government is said to be considering visa sanctions or withholding foreign aid to pressure Pakistan into taking him back.
However, The Telegraph reports that Ahmed cannot in fact be deported to Pakistan, after renouncing his Pakistani citizenship — a move that has led Pakistani officials to refuse his return on the grounds that he is no longer a citizen of the country.
The Original Case
Ahmed was one of nine men convicted in the landmark 2012 Rochdale grooming gang prosecution, with the offenders collectively receiving 174 years of prison sentences between them, according to Greater Manchester Police. He was jailed for 22 years after being convicted of two counts of rape, one sexual assault, trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, having plied girls as young as 13 with drink and drugs before abusing them alongside eight other men. During his trial, he exposed his naked torso in the dock and threw a clump of chest hair onto the floor, saying of one victim: “She would have seen this.”
