Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Rochdale child sex grooming gang ringleader who was convicted of 30 rapes fights to avoid being kicked out of UK - and he's using European human rights law to do it

  • Paedophile Shabir Ahmed serving 22 years in jail for his role in sex ring
  • Appealing against Theresa May's decision to strip him of British citizenship
  • Claims convictions for child sex were a conspiracy to 'scapegoat' Muslims
  • Abuse ringleader has written to the European Court of Human Rights
Paedophile Shabir Ahmed (pictured), claims his convictions for child sex offences were a conspiracy to 'scapegoat' Muslims
Paedophile Shabir Ahmed (pictured), claims his convictions for child sex offences were a conspiracy to 'scapegoat' Muslims
The ringleader of a Rochdale child sex grooming gang is using European human rights laws in an attempt to avoid being booted out of Britain. 

Paedophile Shabir Ahmed, 63 - described by a judge as a 'violent hypocritical bully' - claims his convictions for child sex offences were a conspiracy to 'scapegoat' Muslims, his immigration tribunal today heard.

The convicted abuser has written to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to appeal against his impending deportation from the UK.

His case will once again spark fears about how foreign criminals are trying to exploit human rights laws to remain in the country. 

Ahmed, serving 22 years in jail, was convicted in 2012 of being the ringleader of a group of Asian men who preyed on girls as young as 13 in Rochdale, plying them with drink and drugs before they were 'passed around' for sex.

He appeared before the First Tier Immigration Tribunal, sitting at Manchester Crown Court, on Tuesday to appeal against the decision by Secretary of State Theresa May to strip him of his British citizenship, the first stage in the deportation process.

Three judges will decide on his appeal, as well as on appeals by three other men who were part of the same gang and who also face deportation.

Ahmed, who sat in the dock flanked by prison officers, told the court: 'She (Theresa May) says all her trouble is coming from Muslims, yet she's the biggest trouble causer in the world.'

He said he was convicted by 'eleven white jurors', adding: 'It's become fashionable to blame everything on Muslims these days.'

Vinesh Mandalia, representing the Home Office, told the tribunal Mrs May had exercised her right as the Home Office minister to deprive Ahmed  - who was nicknamed 'Daddy' - of British citizenship 'if it is conducive to public good'.

Mr Mandalia said Ahmed's appeal against depriving him of British citizenship included an appeal to the ECHR against his criminal convictions, which had been acknowledged by that court but did not mean they would hear his case.

'He explains simply on human rights grounds the conviction is unsafe on the basis it was a conspiracy by everyone involved,' Mr Mandalia said.

Ahmed's appeal states his trial was 'tainted' and a 'miscarriage of justice' as it was 'institutionally racist' using Muslims as 'scapegoats'.

Mr Mandalia said: 'The public interest weighs heavily in favour of the Secretary of State, to ensure those granted the benefits of British citizenship, however that comes to arise, know the responsibilities that go with it.

'And if you get involved in very serious organised crime then one of the consequences of that is that they will be deprived of their British citizenship.'

He said divorced father-of-four Ahmed, who first came to the UK in 1967 aged 14, is a British citizen, but would not be rendered stateless as he retains Pakistani nationality having been born in Gujrat.

Three times married Ahmed told the court he had four children living in the UK, had lived here for nearly 50 years and had £83,000 in a UK bank account.

Ahmed was given a 19-year sentence at Liverpool Crown Court in May 2012 for a string of child sex offences, including rape.

He was also jailed for 22 years, to run concurrently, in July 2012 for 30 rapes against another victim.

Presiding tribunal Judge Michael Clements reserved his decision on Ahmed and the appeal of a second man, Qari Abdul Rauf.

Taxi driver Rauf, 47, a father-of-five, was released on licence last year after serving half of a six-year sentence for trafficking a girl, aged 15, in the UK for sex, and for having sex with the youngster himself.

If you get involved in very serious organised crime then one of the consequences of that is that they will be deprived of their British citizenship
Vinesh Mandalia, representing the Home Office
Rauf, who also acted as a religious studies teacher at a mosque in Rochdale, burst into tears, and through his Urdu interpreter asked the immigration tribunal for 'mercy' and that he 'wanted a second chance'.

Two more men convicted of child sex offences in the Rochdale case, Abdul Aziz and Adil Khan, will have their appeals heard in Manchester on Wednesday.

If the appeals fail all four can take their case to the Upper Tribunal, so any final decision on deportation could be some way off.

The move is the latest in a series of cases in which serious foreign criminals have attempted to avoid being kicked out of Britain by claiming their human rights had been violated. 

In a move popular with swathes of the public, the Tories have pledged to scrap Labour’s controversial Human Rights Act.

Opposed by a raft of Left-wing ‘luvvies’, the move would – for the first time – acknowledge that rights must be accompanied by responsibilities.

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