Rochdale grooming gang leader removed from Accrington, says MP

A Rochdale grooming gang leader has been removed from a town where he was placed after his release from prison, following concerns he had been housed near a playground and a mosque.

Shabir Ahmed, who was jailed for multiple counts of child rape and sexual offences in 2012, was placed in Accrington after being released on licence at the start of July.

In a letter to Lancashire Police, Kamran Mahmood, the chief executive of Ghausia Rizvia Jamia Masjid, said putting Ahmed nearby was “a serious error of judgement” and threatened “public safety” and “community cohesion”.

Hyndburn MP Sarah Smith said he had now been moved but she was “disgusted that he was ever here in the first place”.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed to the BBC Ahmed had been relocated outside the borough.

Ahmed, who came to the UK from Pakistan in the late 1960s, was one of nine men from Rochdale and Oldham who were convicted of exploiting, abusing and raping girls as young as 12 at two takeaway restaurants.

He was jailed for 22 years and released on licence earlier this month.

He had dual British-Pakistani citizenship before being stripped of his UK passport following his conviction but cannot be deported due to a 1971 law forbidding the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.

The Home Office said the provisions of the 1971 act had “protected many individuals caught up in the Windrush crisis”, but Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to change the law following mounting calls for Ahmed’s deportation.