Shabir Ahmed, the 73-year-old former ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, who forced victims to call him by the chilling nickname "Daddy", has been photographed publicly for the first time since walking free from prison.
The Daily Mail pictured Ahmed arriving at Highfield House, a bail hostel in Accrington, Lancashire, just 15 miles from Rochdale, the town where he led a gang of Pakistani men in the systematic rape and sexual exploitation of underage girls, some as young as 13. Ahmed was released on license on July 2, having served just 14 years of a 22-year sentence handed down in August 2012 after he was convicted on 30 counts of child rape. He was identified by Greater Manchester Police as the gang's principal trafficker, personally directing which girls were made available to other abusers. In one instance, he ordered a 15-year-old victim to have sex with fellow gang member Kabeer Hassan as a "birthday treat."
Police records described one 13-year-old who was raped in exchange for vodka, then raped again immediately afterward and paid £40 to stay silent. Another 15-year-old was so intoxicated during an assault by 20 men in succession that she had no memory of it. A separate victim vomited over the side of a bed while being raped by two men. One 13-year-old became pregnant as a result of the abuse and had an abortion.
At Highfield House, a Victorian property surrounded by residential streets, within a mile of at least eight schools and close to a children's playground, security was tightened during his stay. He was moved to an undisclosed new location this week after his presence was leaked on social media and members of the public gathered near the building trying to catch sight of him.
Maggie Oliver, the former Greater Manchester Police detective who resigned in protest over the force's failure to protect victims in the case, condemned the placement decision, saying it left survivors — already living in fear of his release — facing the reality that he had been housed effectively in Rochdale's "backyard." She said she would have placed him at the opposite end of the country and called the decision "pretty neglectful and pretty horrific."
Ahmed cannot currently be deported despite having been stripped of his British citizenship, due to a provision in the Immigration Act 1971. Hyndburn MP Sarah Smith called for a far wider exclusion zone barring Ahmed from Lancashire and the North West entirely, and said his victims deserved to have been told he would leave the country upon release rather than remain nearby.
The Ministry of Justice said Ahmed is under intensive supervision. Pakistan's government has indicated it would not accept Ahmed even if deportation proceedings moved forward, with a foreign ministry spokesman arguing responsibility for his crimes lies with the country where he was raised rather than where he was born.
