Qari Abdul Rauf, convicted in 2012, remains in Rochdale nine years after losing right to stay in the UK

Qari Abdul Rauf, a ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang convicted of sex offences against vulnerable girls in 2012, is still living in Rochdale despite losing the right to remain in the UK. The 54-year-old was part of a nine-strong gang that targeted up to 47 girls as young as 12, subjecting them to alcohol and drug-fueled abuse.

After serving two years and six months of his six-year sentence, Rauf was released in November 2014. Then-Home Secretary Theresa May ordered his deportation to Pakistan, deeming it “conducive to the public good.” However, nine years later, Rauf continues to reside in Rochdale, where his victims also live.

Rauf currently resides in a smart, three-bedroom semi-detached home in the city, with schoolchildren regularly passing by. Despite losing a deportation battle in 2018, Rauf, along with fellow gang leader Adil Khan, who impregnated a 13-year-old girl, is still fighting against deportation orders. The men argue that deportation would breach their human rights as they have wives and children in the UK.

Their appeals have been rejected, yet both men remain in Britain, claiming to have renounced their Pakistani citizenship, which poses a barrier to deportation by rendering them “stateless.”

This development follows a damning report revealing that children were left at the “mercy” of grooming gangs due to police negligence. The report, authored by Mr Newsam and former detective superintendent Gary Ridgeway, was prompted by whistleblowers Sara Rowbotham and Maggie Oliver, whose efforts to expose the crimes were featured in the BBC show Three Girls. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has since apologized and launched further investigations, resulting in the conviction of 42 men involved in the abuse of 13 children. GMP has acknowledged that similar cases are now handled differently to prevent recurrence.