General · 9 July 2026
Law to change for deportation of Rochdale grooming gang ringleader
The Home Secretary intends to modify the 1971 Immigration Act, enabling the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, who was the ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang and has since been released. Ahmed, aged 73, received a 22-year prison sentence in 2012 for child sexual offences, including rape, and was granted release on licence during the previous week. He was stripped of his British citizenship after conviction, but existing law blocked his removal to Pakistan.
Reported by BBC · How we write briefs