Andy Burnham calls on Home Secretary Priti Patel to deport Rochdale grooming gang trio

The Mayor of Greater Manchester has called on the Home Secretary to deport three members of the Rochdale grooming gang.

The ringleader of the the infamous gang, that abused almost 50 young girls, used a "legal loophole" by renouncing his Pakistani nationality to avoid being deported.

Abdul Aziz, 51, known as 'the Master' of the gang, was one of nine members of the gang who were jailed in 2021 for a catalogue of sex crimes.

Along with two other gang members - Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf - he was liable to be deprived of UK citizenship and deported as they also held Pakistani nationality.

The then-home secretary Theresa May ruled it would be “conducive to the public good”.

Since release from jail, Khan and Rauf have continued their appeal against deportation at an Immigration Tribunal, on the grounds that it would interfere with their human rights.

The victims of the Rochdale grooming gang were plied with drink, raped by a gang of Asian men and shared with others across the North West.

Andy Burnham and Deputy Mayor for Police, Crime and Criminal Justice, Bev Hughes, say they are 'horrified' by the decision not to deport the trio, which could see the victims 'forgotten'.

They say Rochdale 'will begin to heal' once the men are deported and they have urged the Home Secretary Priti Patel to step up.

In a joint statement, they said: "We are now in a situation where these men, having lost an appeal to avoid deportation in 2018, might have a chance of never being deported and be allowed to carry on with their lives in the very areas where they carried out their abuse.

“Victims have been forgotten in all this and we are appalled that the Home Secretary, who has had years to do right by them, has so far failed to deport.

"All her tough talk on deportations rings hollow when it comes to the perpetrators of child abuse.

"Despite our many representations to her, she failed to inform us that a court hearing challenging the deportation order was on-going.

"In so doing, she demonstrates how little concern she has for the local community who are understandably upset and angry about what is happening.

“We call on the Home Secretary to do everything within her and the Government’s power to get the right outcome for the victims.

"Justice will finally be seen to be fully served only once these deportations are complete and only then will the community be able to begin to heal.”

Khan impregnated a 13-year-old girl, refusing to accept the child was his until a DNA test was done.

He then met another girl he trafficked to others for sex, using violence when she objected.

Rauf trafficked a 15-year-old girl, driving her to secluded areas to have sex with her in his taxi and ferrying her to a flat in Rochdale where he and others had sex with her.

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