Green Party leader Zack Polanski stated that Rochdale grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed should not be deported from Britain. Ahmed, 73, was convicted in 2012 of multiple rape and sexual offense charges against girls as young as 13.
Ahmed was released last month after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for 30 child rape offenses and a concurrent 19-year sentence for child sex offenses and trafficking. He held dual British-Pakistani citizenship but was stripped of his British citizenship following his conviction. The case has led to a diplomatic dispute, as Pakistan has reportedly refused to accept Ahmed back, blaming Britain for his actions.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Polanski argued against case-by-case deportation decisions. "I think we need to make sure we have consistency and also make sure we stick to the rule of law," he said. "He committed those crimes in Britain so it makes sense to me that as a British citizen he stays in a British prison."
Polanski added that if Ahmed remains a significant threat, he should not be released from prison at all. "If he's still a threat, it doesn't make diplomatic sense to me for him to go and be a threat somewhere else," he stated. "It makes sense to me that he is maintained in prison until he's not a threat."
In 2012, Ahmed was sentenced for leading a group of eight Pakistani men and one Afghan who abused 47 girls over five years in Rochdale. In a separate trial, he was convicted of 30 additional rape charges involving a girl he abused from age three into adulthood. The court heard that Ahmed's gang supplied girls with alcohol and drugs and subjected them to gang rape in rooms above takeaway shops.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to amend a 1971 law that protects certain Commonwealth citizens and had previously prevented Ahmed's deportation. A Downing Street spokesperson indicated that the government is engaging with the Pakistani government at a senior level to facilitate his deportation.
In contrast to Polanski's remarks, Labour leader and incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham has stated that "nothing is off the table" and that "victims must come first." Conservative and Reform MPs have called for an end to foreign aid to Pakistan and visa sanctions until the country agrees to take Ahmed back.