Four men from Rochdale child sex abuse gang are STILL in the country FIVE YEARS after they were ordered to leave

• Ringleader Shabir Ahmed, 64, along with Adil Khan, Qari Abdul Rauf and Abdul Aziz are taking their case to Court of Appeal to avoid being booted out the UK
• Their cases are being funded by the taxpayer through the Legal Aid fund
• They were first ordered to leave the country five years ago during their trials 

Four men from the depraved Rochdale child sex abuse gang are continuing to fight against extradition to Pakistan - five years after they were ordered to leave the country. 

Ringleader Shabir Ahmed, 64, along with Adil Khan, Qari Abdul Rauf and Abdul Aziz are taking their case to the Court of Appeal to avoid being booted out of the UK.

Their cases are being funded by the taxpayer through the Legal Aid fund.

Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of the Rochdale sex gang, who was played by Simon Nagra in the BBC drama Three Girls (right), is fighting plans to deport him to Pakistan

Their trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard five girls - aged between 13 and 15 - were plied with alcohol, food and money in return for sex and subjected to violence.   

Ahmed, a Pakistani who acquired British citizenship by naturalisation is serving a 22-year jail sentence after being convicted of a string of offences including rape in 2012.

As well as appealing against deportation Ahmed appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), claiming his convictions for child sex offences were a conspiracy by police and members of the jury to 'scapegoat' Muslims.

He told the court he was convicted by 'eleven white jurors', adding 'it's become fashionable to blame everything on Muslims these days.'

Judges in Strasbourg unanimously threw out his case, finding there was 'simply no proof' jurors acted improperly. 

Adil Khan, Abdul Aziz and Qari Abdul Rauf are also fighting deportation

Of the nine men convicted over the scandal in 2012, only Shabir Ahmed, 64, who was caged for 22 years, and Mohammed Sajid, 40, who was jailed for 12 years, remain behind bars. 

Adil Khan, 47, Abdul Rauf, 48, and Abdul Aziz, 46, have all been released on licence after going beyond the half-way point of their sentences.

Khan was convicted of two counts of engaging a child in sexual activity and one of trafficking a girl for sex within the UK.

Rauf was convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, while Aziz was convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. 

Five years ago, it was ordered they be stripped of their British citizenship and returned to Pakistan.

However they are still in the UK and have been granted permission to argue their publicly-funded case before the Court of Appeal.  

Last week one of the gang's victims told how she 'just froze' when she came face-to-face with one of the abusers in Rochdale only a few weeks ago.

Speaking under the pseudonym Lily, the woman – who was groomed from the age of 11 – told Good Morning Britain that she hadn't been taken seriously by the authorities. 

She said: 'I actually bumped into one [of the abusers] in my hometown a few weeks ago. I just, I just froze. I was like, there's nothing I can do – I've brought it to court, he was sentenced and now he's out.'  

A date for the hearing has not yet been set.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'All four men have been granted permission to appeal at the Court of Appeal.'   

Mr Justice Bernard McCloskey McCloskey, Britain's most senior immigration judge, has previously criticised the men's solicitors, the Nottingham-based firm Burton and Burton, for 'frankly shameful' behaviour.

He said they had failed to submit the necessary papers to the court and had repeatedly asked for adjournments.

The case has raised fears that convicted criminals are adopting a strategy of timewasting and obstructing the courts to try and to put off any possible deportation from the UK as long as possible.

MPs have accused lawyers of making money by 'gaming the system' and using delaying tactics to spin out cases.  

The Rochdale child abuse scandal

Twelve men were prosecuted for sex trafficking, rape, trafficking and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

The abuse occurred between 2004 and 2009 and the men were sent to trial in 2012. Nine were convicted, of them eight were of British-Pakistani origin and one an Afghan asylum seeker. Three were not convicted. 

Shabir Ahmed was the ringleader of a child sex exploitation ring, grooming girls as young as 13 for sex in Rochdale and Bolton. He was given a jailed for conspiracy, two rapes, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking.

Top row left to right: Abdul Rauf, Hamid Safi, Mohammed Sajid and Abdul Aziz; Bottom row left to right: Abdul Qayyum, Adil Khan, Mohammed Amin and Kabeer Hassan

Adil Khan, who fathered a child of one victim, received eight years for trafficking a child within the UK for sexual exploitation.

Khan, who is married with one child, fathered the child of a 13-year-old victim.

Mohammed Sajid was jailed for 12 years for rape and trafficking, taxi driver Mohammed Amin got a five-year jail term and asylum seeker Hamid Safi got four years.

Another taxi driver Abdul Aziz was sentenced to nine years for conspiracy and nine years, concurrently, for trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Another taxi driver Abdul Qayyum was jailed for five years. Married father-of-five Abdul Rauf, received six years. 

Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service came under fire for how they handled reported claims of rape and abuse and have since apologised.