Grooming Gang Leader still lives in UK despite Deportation Order

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Grooming Gang Leader still lives in UK despite Deportation Order

A Rochdale grooming gang leader is still living in the UK nearly nine years after he was ordered to be deported to Pakistan.

In 2012, nine men were convicted of several sexual offences including rape, trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children in and around Rochdale.

Qari Abdul Rauf was told he would be deported after serving a six-year jail term.

But Rauf remains in the UK nearly nine years later.

He had dual UK-Pakistani citizenship and although he was stripped of his British citizenship, his deportation has been stalled as Pakistan reportedly refused to take him back.

Daily Mail reported that schoolchildren frequently walk past his £140,000 three-bedroom house in Rochdale.

Although he was jailed for six years, the former taxi driver served just two-and-a-half years and was released on licence in November 2014.

The convicted grooming gang leader then returned home to his wife and five children.

The Home Office told Rauf he would be stripped of his UK citizenship in 2015 and sent back to Pakistan with other grooming gang members Abdul Aziz and Adil Khan.

They lost an appeal in 2018 against the ruling.

Rauf and Khan were ordered to be deported after their release but their lawyers appealed.

In 2022, they claimed that their forced removal would be incompatible with their human rights but that appeal failed.

In August 2023, immigration judges refused another appeal from Rauf’s lawyers.

According to the men, they renounced their Pakistani citizenships, meaning they were “stateless”.

In a previous hearing, it was heard that it would be “relatively easy” for both men to reclaim their Pakistani nationalities. However, they were “unwilling” to do so.

A report identified at least 96 men in the Greater Manchester area who pose a potential risk to children. But it admitted that “only a proportion of the individuals” are likely sex abuse.

It also found that children were left “at the mercy” of Rochdale grooming gangs because of an “inadequate” response by police and council bosses.

In a statement, a Home Office spokesperson said:

“The disgraceful failures in Rochdale must never happen again.”

“That’s why we have set up a dedicated Taskforce of specialist officers to tackle grooming gangs, helping forces target those who prey on young people and bring them to justice, and will introduce mandatory reporting for adults working with young people if someone in their care is being sexually abused.

“We know we must do more to protect vulnerable children and our new Criminal Justice Bill will look to further protect victims and make sure grooming gangs and their leaders face the toughest possible sentences.”

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