Pakistan declines UK request to deport grooming gang leader

Pakistan has rejected the United Kingdom’s request to deport Shabir Ahmed, the convicted ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, and placed responsibility for his crimes on the British environment where he was raised. In a press briefing on Thursday, July 16, 2026, Tahir Andrabi, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Ahmed “must be dealt with under UK laws” and that his government has “no connection whatsoever with this matter.” Andrabi added that “regardless of where he was born, the onus lies on where he grew up, was raised, groomed, and unfortunately spoiled.”

Ahmed, 73, was born in Pakistan and moved to the United Kingdom in the late 1960s. He was one of nine men convicted in 2012 for sexually exploiting girls as young as 12 at two takeaway restaurants in Rochdale. He received a 22-year prison sentence for 30 offenses including assault and trafficking for sexual exploitation. After serving 14 years, he was released from prison on July 2, 2026. Ahmed was stripped of his British citizenship following his conviction, leaving him a Pakistani national under UK law.

The UK Home Office has sought to deport Ahmed since his release, but a provision in the...