Burnham calls for grooming gang ringleader to be deported

Shabir Ahmed was the head of a gang which abused girls as young as 12

Andy Burnham has said he will ask the home and foreign secretaries to "review all possible options" to deport the ringleader of a notorious Rochdale grooming gang.

Shabir Ahmed is due to be released from jail this week, after being convicted for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls in 2012.

Ahmed had dual British-Pakistani citizenship and was stripped of his British citizenship following his conviction.

The Home Office said it was working with other government departments to explore options in the case.

Burnham, who is widely expected to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister later this month, said he wanted to see Ahmed removed from the country.

But documents shared online, reportedly from the Probation Service, say Ahmed cannot be deported back to Pakistan because of a law that bars his removal.

Ahmed's victims have said they fear for their safety ahead of his expected release from jail.

In a post on X, external, Burnham wrote: "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."

In response, a spokesperson for the Home Office said: "We are committed to doing everything possible to deport FNOs [foreign national offenders] and are clear they should have no place in this country."

"As previous governments have found, this necessarily involves the agreement of the receiving country, which has not always been possible.

"But we are currently working with colleagues across government to explore all possible options in this case."

In 2022, when Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester, he called on the Conservative government "to do everything" within its power to deport grooming gang members.

Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Minister Jake Richards told the BBC's Politics Live there were long-standing issues with "our ability to deport foreign national offenders to Pakistan".

"We need to try and work on that and see whether it's possible, but in this case, it seems unlikely," Richards said.

When asked if the law should be changed to allow the deportation of the Ahmed, Richards said: "I think it's very difficult to change the law to look retrospectively."

But he added he was "absolutely looking at this individual and if he is to be released from prison, looking at what we are doing to ensure, firstly, to look after his victims and keeping the community safe".

One victim, identified only as "R