Rochdale child abuse leader used loophole to stay in UK

A RINGLEADER in the Rochdale child grooming scandal avoided deportation to his native Pakistan after renouncing his citizenship, it has emerged.

Abdul Aziz made the move on July 13, 2018 – just five days before the Court of Appeal ruled he would be deprived of his British citizenship.

As a result the 51-year-old, referred to as “the master” by the gang, was told by the Home Office that he would be allowed to stay in the UK after serving his nine-year sentence.

Now fellow gang members Adil Khan, 52, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 53, who also renounced their Pakistani citizenship in September 2018, are claiming it is not fair that they still face the prospect of deportation.

Representatives for Rauf, who are in receipt of legal aid, told an immigration tribunal that the law demands “consistency of treatment”.

Khan told the hearing: “I have a question for the Home Secretary: whether Mr Aziz was an angel and I am a devil?”

The three men were among nine gang members jailed in 2012 for a catalogue of child sex offences in Rochdale.

All three were likely to be deprived of their UK citizenship and deported as they also held Pakistani nationality, and Theresa May the then-home secretary ruled it would be “conducive to the public good” for them to leave the UK after serving their prison time.

Rauf and Khan have since mounted multiple legal challenges against deportation on the grounds it would interfere with their human rights.

Khan got one girl pregnant, refusing to accept the child was his until a DNA test was carried out. He also trafficked another youngster to other men for sex.

Rauf, a father-of-five, drove a 15-yearold girl to secluded areas to have sex with her in his taxi.

He also took her to a flat in Rochdale where he and others molested her.

A decision is expected on the deportation orders later this year.