Ringleader of Rochdale grooming gang ‘cannot be deported’

He was sentenced to 19 years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court in 2012; He was one of nine men convicted of crimes against five girls in the Rochdale grooming gang case.

Police said up to 50 girls may have been victims of the gang, and many of them came from “chaotic”, “council estate” backgrounds.

Judge Gerald Clifton said the victims were treated “as if they were worthless and disrespected” because they were not part of the gang’s community or religion.

Greater Manchester Police said at the time there was no “racial or cultural” element to the crimes.

A later report revealed that despite many concerns being raised, police failed to act. It said there had been “many serious failures” by police and local authorities.

Ahmed’s case follows a similar legal battle by two other gang members, Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan.

They were both stripped of their British citizenship in 2022 after a long legal battle that went all the way to the Court of Appeal.

Both invoked their human rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to private and family life, to avoid deportation.

The Home Office did not say whether either man had been deported.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Ahmed’s horrific crimes were at the heart of the grooming gangs scandal that represents one of the darkest moments in our country’s history.

“The most vulnerable were abused and exploited at the hands of evil child rapists and had to face the full force of the law.”

It was stated that Ahmed was required to sign the sex offenders register for life and that any breach of the license conditions would result in him being “immediately imprisoned”.