Rochdale paedophile gang handed £1m in legal aid to fight deportation
The four claimed a move to strip them of their citizenship in order to deport them to Pakistan breached their human rights
MEMBERS of a paedophile gang have received more than £1million in taxpayer-funded legal aid to fight deportation.
The four, from Pakistan, were among nine men jailed in 2012 for sexual offences, including rape, against underage girls in Rochdale.
Ringleader Shabir Ahmed, 65, Abdul Aziz, 42, Adil Khan, 43, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 44, claimed a move to strip them of their citizenship in order to deport them breached their human rights.
They were granted legal aid to fight their case and Ahmed — who made girls he raped call him “Daddy” — was allowed to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights from jail.
The beast, who got 22 years, tried to claim his convictions were a conspiracy by police and his jury to “scapegoat” Muslims. He lost.
Alleged stalling tactics at appeals by the four were described as “weakening the rule of law” by Mr Justice Bernard McCloskey, the UK’s most senior immigration judge.
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Aziz, Khan and Rauf finally lost their fight last August when judges upheld a decision to strip them of citizenship.
But they and Ahmed have so far received £1,003,783 in legal aid, The Sun’s Freedom of Information requests reveal.
MP David Davies said: “Their crimes were despicable. They should not have received any of that money. No doubt it will go straight into the pockets of their human rights lawyers.”
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