The ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang – who has served 14 years in jail for multiple rapes and sexually abuse against young girls – has been released from prison as a row over his deportation deepens.
Shabir Ahmed, 73, known to his victims as “Daddy”, was sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2012 – one of nine men convicted of offences against five girls.
It is understood he left HMP Leeds on Thursday and is now in secure accommodation, wearing a GPS electronically monitored tag.
His release comes amid a row over whether he can be deported.
His victims were told this week he would be released but could not be deported to Pakistan – despite being stripped of his British citizenship – due to a 55-year-old law.
But the government has now insisted that Ahmed may be deported, insisting it is exploring every option.
Downing Street initially said the government “cannot deport someone who is protected by the Immigration Act 1971”, but a spokesperson said later on Thursday: “The government will always consider all options in these vile cases.”
It is understood the Home Office is looking at what can be done in this case and will provide an update in due course.
Under the Immigration Act 1971, those who arrived in the UK before 1973 and lived in the UK for at least five years before their deportation was considered cannot be removed from the country, which is the case for Ahmed.
Speaking to LBC on Thursday morning, Labour minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said Ahmed was one of a “small number” of people who came to the UK from Commonwealth countries 50 years ago, whom the law prevents from being deported.
Baroness Smith also suggested Pakistan had refused to take Ahmed, saying there was “work that needs to happen” to persuade the country to accept him if he is deported.
She said: “We’re doing everything we can, looking at every route to get this guy out of the country.”
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On Wednesday, likely next prime minister Andy Burnham said Ahmed should be removed and called for senior ministers to “review all possible options” for his deportation.
Answering questions on Ahmed in the House of Lords, justice minister Lord Timpson said he would be subject to “substantial and robust licence conditions”, including the possibility of being recalled to prison, and would “know that the eyes of the state will be on him 24 hours a day”.
Meanwhile, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “His horrific crimes were at the heart of the grooming gangs scandal... He will rightly be on the sex offenders register for life, ordered to stay away from his victims and banned from contacting every child and young person.
“His every movement will be tracked and he’ll be forced to wear an electronic tag.”
Victims have shared their fears about Ahmed’s release.
One, identified only as “Ruby”, is being supported by The Maggie Oliver Foundation, set up by 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.
