New law may see abusers deported

HOME SECRETARY Priti Patel has vowed to deport the Rochdale sex-ring members who abused dozens of girls as young as 13, according to a media report.

Patel’s remarks came after a victim asked her to deport abusers as the ringleader was pictured shopping in Rochdale.

With tougher immigration rules, Patel will be able to remove foreign criminals without the Home Office being drawn into legal battles, the Sun said.

“They are some of the most complex cases the Home Office has seen – but a new immigration plan will help make it easier,” the paper reported, quoting a source.

Under Patel’s proposals, the Home Office could remove Abdul Rauf, 51, who served six years in jail for trafficking and sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Some of those convicted are still in the UK and back around Rochdale and Oldham – despite deportation orders in 2015.

Under the new plans, convicted criminals facing deportation would need to state their case upfront in one go, with the offender having to prove their circumstances have changed.

Rauf was part of a nine-strong grooming gang convicted for targeting 47 girls as young as 13 between 2005 and 2008. They plied the girls with drugs and alcohol and passed them around for sex. The youngsters were assaulted and raped by as many as five men, often multiple times.

After he was jailed in 2012, then home secretary Theresa May ordered that Rauf be stripped of his citizenship, along with fellow abusers Abdul Aziz, now 50, and Adil Khan, 51.

All three are dual nationals, having moved to the UK from Pakistan but gaining British citizenship due to their time in the country. They appealed on the grounds that their family life would be harmed, but in 2018 the plea was rejected.