UK moves to change law for deporting grooming gang leader

The British government is preparing to amend a decades-old immigration law in an effort to deport Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, following his release from prison. However, the plan faces a significant diplomatic hurdle as Pakistani authorities have reportedly refused to accept him.

Ahmed, 73, was released on license on July 2 after serving 14 years of a 19-year sentence for 30 offences, including sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. He was convicted in 2012 as part of a group of nine men for crimes against vulnerable girls, some as young as 12 or 13. Despite having been stripped of his British citizenship, he has been protected from deportation by a provision in the Immigration Act 1971. This law prevents the removal of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before January 1, 1973, and have lived in the country for at least five years.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce proposals on July 13 to close this legal loophole. The government aims to do so without affecting the rights of other long-term Commonwealth residents, including the Windrush generation. The planned changes could be...