Andy Burnham says ‘nothing off table’ in case of Rochdale grooming gang leader

Shabir Ahmed’s victims were told in 2012 he would be deported. Photograph: Greater Manchester Police/PA View image in fullscreen Shabir Ahmed’s victims were told in 2012 he would be deported. Photograph: Greater Manchester Police/PA Andy Burnham says ‘nothing off table’ in case of Rochdale grooming gang leader Labour leader-in-waiting wants to close loophole preventing deportation of sex offender Andy Burnham will explore “all possible options”, if he becomes prime minister, to close a legal loophole that prevented the deportation of a “vile” Rochdale grooming gang leader. In his first significant intervention as Labour leader-in-waiting, Burnham said nothing would be “off the table” in the case of Shabir Ahmed, 73, who is expected to be released from prison on Thursday. Ahmed’s victims were told in 2012 he would be deported after being jailed for 30 child rape charges involving girls as young as 13. However, the government this week admitted that the provisions of the Immigration Act 1971 meant he could not be deported to Pakistan, where he was born, even though he has been stripped of British citizenship. Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister on 20 July, said on Wednesday: “Like everyone, I want this vile criminal out of the country. Victims must come first. I will ask the home and foreign secretaries to review all possible options – – and they should consider nothing is off the table.” Ahmed, who was known as “Daddy”, was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted in 2012 for playing a key role in the Rochdale grooming gang, which was said to have had as many as 50 victims. He is due to be freed from prison on 2 July and will be banned from Rochdale. He will be released on licence, meaning that he will be recalled to prison if he breaches restrictions. A letter believed to be from the probation service to victims this week said the government was unable to deport Ahmed under the terms of the Immigration Act 1971. This is because he arrived in the UK before 1973 and had lived in the UK for at least five years before his deportation was considered. Alex Davies-Jones, who resigned as the government’s victims’ minister in May, told the Guardian it was “horrific” that Ahmed would be allowed back into the community. She said: “If we truly are to put victims back at the heart of the criminal justice system then we have got to listen to them and act here.” Claire Waxman, the victims’ commissioner, said: “Victims in this case were told the offender would be deported, and that information was incorrect. It has understandably raised expectations and has now caused further upset and trauma.” She said the case highlighted a much wider problem and that too often victims were given “inconsistent or inaccurate information about offenders” which undermines confidence in the justice system, creates unnecessary distress, and can compound victims’ fear and trauma. One of Ahmed’s victims, referred to as Ruby, told BBC Newsnight that his rele