Mahmood to set out plan to deport grooming gang leader
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is planning to introduce legal changes to deport a convicted grooming gang leader, Shabir Ahmed. Current laws prevent his deportation because he arrived in the UK before 1973, despite having his British citizenship revoked.
Why it matters
The case highlights the tension between historical immigration legislation and modern public safety concerns regarding the deportation of foreign criminals.
Image source, GMP By Iain Watson , Political correspondent and Ottilie Mitchell Published 7 minutes ago Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will set out on Monday the legal steps she will take to deport the freed ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang.
Shabir Ahmed, jailed for 22 years in 2012 for multiple counts of child sexual offences including rape, was released from prison on licence earlier this month.
Calls have mounted across the political spectrum for the deportation of Ahmed, who was stripped of his British citizenship following his conviction leaving him with only Pakistani nationality.
But he cannot be deported due to a 1971 law that forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.
It is not yet clear how Mahmood will change the law.
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