Grooming gang survivor calls for Immigration Act to be scrapped after Rochdale ringleader walks free from prison

A grooming gang survivor has called on the Government to scrap the 1971 Immigration Act after the leader of a Rochdale grooming gang was freed from jail.

Speaking to GB News, Ellie Reynolds expressed her outrage after Shabir Ahmed was freed from prison early, prompting a desperate Government push to deport him.

Ahmed, 73, was released from prison on Thursday after serving 14 years of his 19-year conviction in 2012 for multiple rape and sexual offences against young girls.

However, the ringleader has been saved from deportation due to the 1971 Immigration Act which forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.

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Speaking to GB News, Ms Reynolds argued that rape gang members "have more rights in this country than the white victims do".

She said: "You're all finally seeing what we have had to put up with for years. All that is evidence of is that Muslim rape gangs have more rights in this country than what the white victims do.

"The white British children have absolutely no leg to stand on when it comes to these rape gangs, even in Government."

As host Tom Harwood highlighted that Ahmed's victims were only informed of his release on Monday, Ms Reynolds admitted she is "not surprised".

She said: "Do you know it doesn't surprise me at all. Billy Howarth from Parents Against Grooming UK luckily is heavily in contact with some of the survivors of this man.

"They were assured all the way through his sentencing that he was going to be deported as soon as he was up for release. Why hasn't that been adhered to?"

Asked by Tom whether she believes things may be "moving behind the scenes" in Government to try and get Ahmed deported, Ms Reynolds strongly disagreed.

She fumed: "No they're not, and I think that's what they'd like you to think.

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"The Immigration Act, it should be scrapped. At the end of the day, he came over here, he raped our children, and now he's got more rights to walk around the streets than what these poor girls do. They're absolutely beside themselves."

Ms Reynolds stressed that the Government "knew" for a long time that Ahmed was set to be released, and argued that they should have prepared legislation to have him deported before his release.

She told GB News: "I think that the Government try and put laser focus on this in the public domain, but not behind closed doors.

"And it wasn't news, they knew that he was going to be out. They could have had multiple things in preparation to get him out and get him gone."

Further reports have also revealed that Ahmed made an unsuccessful attempt at being released early in 2022.

According to the Daily Mail, the convicted ringleader was denied parole by a board at maximum security Wakefield Prison.

A summary of the 2022 parole rejection said his probation officer "advised that release to the community at this stage could not be safe as Mr Ahmed had not sufficiently reduced his risks".

Ahmed is understood to have been freed on licence and must initially live at a bail hostel and wear an electronic GPS tag.

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