Adil Khan and Abdul Rauf lose second appeal to avoid being deported

Two paedophiles in the Rochdale grooming gang have lost their second appeal to avoid being deported.

Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 52, have lost a second appeal to avoid being deported for their sickening crimes, which saw nine men jailed for exploiting girls as young as 13.

They originally lost the right to stay in Britain in August 2018, after losing a human rights appeal against their removal – and it was confirmed this week that they have lost their second appeal.

They were jailed in May 2012 for their parts in the scandal – and all have been spotted in and around Rochdale over the last few years after their release from prison.

Khan was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child and trafficking a child within the UK. Rauf was convicted of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child and trafficking a child within the UK, was jailed for six years.

Former detective turned whistleblower Maggie Oliver – who played an integral role in bringing about the prosecution of a Rochdale grooming gang – said: "Finally, these monsters are to be deported, and not before time!

"So many questions around why it has taken almost 10 years to reach this decision. 

"On release from prison, they returned to live in Rochdale where they were free to pick up their lives, bumping into their victims so they lived in fear.

"Khan even had the nerve to argue he shouldn’t be deported because he wanted to be a ‘role model’ for his own son!

"Rage doesn’t even go halfway towards explaining my feelings about this but just imagine how all the victims of these abusers feel.

"But this is at least some good news at last - now I’ll wait to see if this really happens or will there be many more millions of public money spent yet again, protecting the human rights of those who have forfeited those rights in my opinion through their actions.

"And victims' rights yet again come nowhere."

Heywood and Middleton MP Chris Clarkson said: “All of us have been waiting anxiously to see justice done on behalf of the victims of the Rochdale grooming gangs.

“It was perverse and wrong of these wicked men to abuse our justice system in an effort to avoid paying for the harm they have done. They do not belong in decent society and they are not wanted in our community.

“This was the right result and I want to pay tribute to the survivors of the gangs for their dignity and resilience in the face of such odious behaviour.”

Rochdale MP Sir Tony Lloyd added: “Following the decision in August that these two men should be deported, as a Member of Parliament for Rochdale I have written to the Home Secretary demanding speedy action and demanding an enquiry as to how, these many years on from the men being released from prison, they are still allowed to walk the streets of Rochdale.” 

In a joint statement, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and the Deputy Mayor for Police, Crime and Criminal Justice, Bev Hughes, on the outcome of the Rochdale grooming gang court case, said: “We welcome this decision but it comes after too many years of long legal battles and suspended justice for the victims and communities whose lives were ruined by the appalling crimes of these men.

“This is now the second appeal that they have lost against deportation. There is no question that it must be the last.

“Throughout the years, we have repeatedly pressed the Home Office for action, including after the first appeal was lost in 2018. We called on them to put the victims first and ensure that these men could not be allowed to go about their lives in the places where they carried out their abuses.

“Despite our representations, the Home Office’s failure to inform us of the developments in the case showed a flagrant disregard for the local communities who remained deeply affected and distressed by this postponement of justice.

“The new Home Secretary must now get a grip of this situation and restore the confidence of those communities. We hope that the deportation process can now be completed swiftly to provide some small sense of closure to those who suffered so terribly at their hands.”

A spokesperson for the Home Office – which does not comment on individual cases –  said: “The crimes committed by the Rochdale child sexual exploitation group who preyed on the young and vulnerable were truly appalling and have no place in our society. 

“That is why we are determined to take whatever action is available to us within the law to make sure perpetrators are brought to justice and to protect victims.”