Calls to deport 'appalling' Rochdale grooming trio

Three members of a notorious grooming gang are still living in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, despite being stripped of their British citizenship.

Abdul Aziz, Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf were jailed for running a child sexual exploitation ring in 2012.

The trio lost an appeal in 2018 against the decision to strip them of their citizenship and could be deported.

Greater Manchester's deputy mayor said it was "completely unacceptable" that the men were still in Rochdale.

"Their continued presence in the community will doubtless be very distressing to those affected by the appalling crimes they perpetrated," said Bev Hughes.

"Greater Manchester should have been rid of them a long time ago."

Aziz, Khan and Rauf, who are Pakistani nationals, were among nine jailed for crimes including rape and trafficking of girls as young as 13 in Rochdale.

In some cases their victims, aged in their early teens, had been raped and pimped out to paying customers in Rochdale and Oldham.

The three men were given jail sentences of between six and nine years.

The deputy mayor and the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, have written to successive home secretaries "calling for assurances that the deportation of these three men is still a priority for the Home Office".

"In light of these latest revelations, we again call on government to prioritise the processing of their departure from the UK as swiftly as possible," said Ms Hughes.

"When they are finally out of this country it will be not a moment too soon."

A Home Office spokesperson said it was "committed to removing foreign national offenders wherever possible".

"Since 2010 we have removed more than 52,000 criminals," the Home Office said.