Shabana Mahmood 'exploring all possible options' to deport Rochdale grooming gang leader

Shabana Mahmood 'exploring all possible options' to deport Rochdale grooming gang leader Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is exploring all possible options to deport vile Shabir Ahmed, 73, who led a Rochdale grooming gang, after he was released from prison on Thursday Shabana Mahmood is "exploring all possible options" to deport a vile grooming gang leader after he was released from prison. Shabir Ahmed, 73, served 14 years behind bars, but under existing laws cannot be sent to Pakistan despite having his British citizenship strips. On Thursday Keir Starmer asked the Home Secretary to review the case amid calls for the law to be changed. Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham has said nothing should be off the table to remove Ahmed from Britain. A government spokeswoman said: "We are committed to doing everything possible to deport 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 in some countries. But we are currently working with colleagues across government to explore all possible options to deport this vile criminal." Ahmed is understood to have been freed on licence and told he must initially live at a bail hostel, which is staffed 24 hours and wear an electronic GPS tag. He is not allowed to go to parts of Rochdale or his last known address in Oldham. He cannot be deported because of a 1971 law forbidding the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago. In a statement, No 10 said: "We are absolutely clear that where foreign nationals commit offences in the UK we will do everything in our power to remove them." In the Commons, Rochdale Labour MP Paul Waugh called for Ahmed to be deported, saying the Foreign Office "should do everything possible within their power" to make sure that happens. Mr Burnham 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." Victims have shared their fears about Ahmed's release. One said she was "absolutely furious" officials did not tell her he was going to be released, adding: "I had to find out about it from the media, in the week of his release." The woman, known as Amber, said she has been unable to sleep and felt "physically sick" at the news and fears for the safety of her children. She said: "He has contacts in Rochdale. They operated as a gang - so even if he stays out of Rochdale, he could still get other men to do what he wants." In a statement released on her behalf by the Centre for Women's Justice, she said she felt like she had been "let down all over again". CWJ solicitor Kate Ellis said it was "completely unacceptable" victims were not being told about plans for their abuser's release from prison. Another woman, identified only as Ruby, is being supported by The Maggie Oliver Foundation - launched by an ex-police detective turned whistleblower over grooming gangs. Ruby said: "I'm scared for my safety and my kids' safety. "The main ringleader is getting out of prison, who is well known in Rochdale, Oldham and Middleton, so even if he's not in that area, he still knows people and has a chance to talk to people from that area and that makes me unsafe." In a statement issued through the foundation, Ruby said victims of abuse had been given "false promises" and left to "fend for themselves" through a lack of support from the authorities, and called for a change in the law to get grooming gang members deported. Ahmed was sentenced to 19 years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court in 2012 as one of nine men convicted of offences against five girls.