Mahmood to close legal loophole blocking grooming gang leader’s deportation

WorldPolitics
9 Jul 2026 • 1:28 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Mahmood to close legal loophole blocking grooming gang leader’s deportation

  • Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce plans to amend a decades-old law to allow the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, a convicted grooming gang leader.
  • Ahmed, 73, was released last week after serving 14 years of a 19-year sentence for rape and sexual offences against girls, some as young as 12.
  • A 1971 statute currently prevents Ahmed's removal from the UK, as it exempts a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived more than 50 years ago.
  • The proposed legal changes could be introduced as fast-tracked legislation or an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, with a Home Office minister sayig that “all options are on the table”.
  • While Pakistan may not accept Ahmed due to renounced citizenship, No 10 has raised the issue with officials in Islamabad.

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