Release of Rochdale grooming gang leader ‘really scary’, says whistleblower

Exclusive: Sara Rowbotham voices fears for women and girls because of ‘weak’ probation service

The release of the Rochdale grooming gang leader is “really scary” for women and girls because of failings in a “weak” probation service, a whistleblower who exposed the paedophile ring has said.

Amid demands for the government to find ways to deport Shabir Ahmed, Sara Rowbotham, a former council worker whose team gathered evidence that led to the imprisonment of Ahmed and eight other men in Rochdale, said she was “terrified” by the prospect of meeting him in the street.

“He has been on my mind ever since I heard that he was not going to be deported as promised. I am genuinely concerned that I will see him walk out of a local bail hostel near my house. If I feel like that, think how the women he abused must feel,” she said.

Ahmed, 73, known to his victims as “Daddy”, was released from prison on Thursday after serving 14 years since his conviction in 2012 for multiple rape and sexual offences against young girls.

The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has asked the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to consider options for ensuring Ahmed’s deportation, describing his case as “particularly heinous”.

The Labour MP Andy Burnham said on Wednesday his government would explore “all possible options” , if he becomes prime minister, to close a legal loophole that prevented the deportation of Ahmed.

Ahmed’s victims were told in 2012 he would be deported after being jailed for 30 child rape charges involving girls as young as 13. However, this week the government admitted that the provisions of the Immigration Act 1971 meant he could not be deported to Pakistan , where he was born, even though he has been stripped of British citizenship.

Rowbotham, who was played by Maxine Peake in the award-winning BBC drama Three Girls , said she had little faith he would be properly monitored after his release.

“This man organised some very nasty abuse of young girls. He was able to coerce, manipulate and organise a highly manipulative group of men, and when in court he was volatile in court and towards the judge. There have been no indications that his views have changed.

“The de-investment in probation services means that any monitoring of him and his behaviour is likely to be really weak. Who is going to make sure he and maybe others do not seek revenge?” she said.

Ahmed, 73, had dual British-Pakistani citizenship but was stripped of the former after his conviction.

Rowbotham, while working for the NHS, made hundreds of referrals detailing the abuse and sexual grooming by Ahmed and his associates between 2005 and 2011. She said she still remembered being called in by Greater Manchester police and being shown a photo of Ahmed, the ring’s organiser, for the first time.

She remains torn over whether he should be deported to Pakistan, because she believes he could be a danger to women and girls there too.

One of Ahmed’s victims, who can only be named as Amber, said she was “absolutely furious” that she had found out about his release through the media instead of official agencies.

“For the past three nights I haven’t been able to sleep. I’ve been physically sick over this. I’ve had to ring my children’s school because I’m scared for their safety,” 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.

“I feel like I’ve been let down all over again. Greater Manchester police accepted I was a victim and that I should have been protected, but there is still zero victim support.”

Bev Craig, Labour’s candidate to replace Burnham as mayor of Greater Manchester, said on Thursday her colleagues were “collectively chilled” at his release. She said she was “appalled and horrified” that Ahmed could return to the region this week, just 14 years after he was convicted of 30 child rape charges.

Craig has written to Mahmood and Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, to urge them to do “all in your power” to have four members of the Rochdale grooming gang deported as promised after their conviction in 2012.

The Home Office has previously said Ahmed’s crimes were “appalling” and that he would be subject to stringent licence conditions upon his release from prison. Ahmed must initially live in supervised accommodation with 24-hour staffing and will be subject to an “exclusion zone” centred on Rochdale.

The Labour minister Jacqui Smith suggested on Thursday that Pakistan had refused to take Ahmed, saying “work … needs to happen” to persuade the country to accept him if he is deported. She said: “We’re doing everything we can, looking at every route to get this guy out of the country.”

The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said her party would attempt to amend the immigration and asylum bill “to close the loophole so that this man can be deported immediately”.