Furious neighbours of Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Qari Rauf say they are terrified to let their children out of sight – after discovering he’s still living freely on their street, having used a legal loophole to dodge deportation.
The convicted paedophile, 55, was one of nine men jailed in 2012 for raping and trafficking vulnerable girls across northern England in a case that shocked the country.
Rauf was told he would be deported to Pakistan in 2014 after serving just two-and-a-half years of a six-year prison sentence – but he remains in the UK more than a decade later.
He was supposed to be deported after his release, but avoided removal by destroying his passport and claiming to be stateless.
Despite losing an appeal against deportation in 2018, he has never been sent back – with Pakistan refusing to accept him without valid travel documents.
Now residents say he is back living in a terraced house in the same area where his victims were targeted – and throwing parties with ‘loads of people’ coming and going.
While victims continue to rebuild their lives, Rauf has reportedly been given extra protection, including a panic button in his home linked directly to Greater Manchester Police. One woman said she was told by officers he had ‘done his time’ when she demanded that they remove him.
Angie Harrison, 45, a mum of two girls aged seven and eight, said: ‘He has loads of people there, having parties and we don’t like the look of the people who come.
‘We are back-to-back with his house. I don’t like letting the kids in the garden. I have told them all about him. It is disgusting.
‘We have tried everything to get him out. We asked him who was taking photos out the back window.
‘The street is full of kids. I am constantly checking and checking.
‘It is horrible. It is awful when you have to sit out watching your kids. We’re the ones watching over our own kids like prison guards.’
She added: ‘He is two doors down from a child minder. He went to prison and came out and moved back to this street.’
Nodding in agreement, child minder Anita Howarth, 58, said: ‘I will pay for him to get a new passport if it gets rid of him.
‘It is a constant reminder that our country does not care. I sit out watching the girls and who they are talking to.
‘Every time I walk past, I think of grooming gangs. It is pathetic. It is just horrible. Our country has let us down big time.
‘I don’t get it. The authority does not seem to care.
‘I know it is not just Asians who do it. It white people as well. But we don’t like any paedophiles no matter what colour they are.
‘But I think it is disgusting. We don’t want our own paedophiles, let alone ones from other countries.’
Lena Carter, 64, who has lived on the street for nearly 30 years, said her daughters used to play in Rauf’s back garden.
‘The two youngest used to play in his back garden. They were never allowed in the house thank God. He broke the law but he knows how to play the system.
‘I can’t believe he is still there. But I am not moving. I have been here nearly 30 years and will be here forever.
‘All of Rochdale has gone bad now. All the shops are shut. It is only big places like Marks and Spencer’s that can afford the rents. The small retailers cannot.
‘I never thought he would have the cheek to come back on the street. He is very blatant. He walks around as if to say “I have abused the kids and I am all right”.
‘I understand he has been banned from the mosque. He walks around in Western clothing now unless his friends are around.
‘What can we do to get him out if the law says he can stay? The police will turn up and remove you if you are near his house.
‘They tell us to leave him alone. I don’t think any of them work apart from the son who sometimes runs the father around in his car.
‘He comes out, gets in the car and goes.
‘It makes me wonder what he has told his girls about why he has been away. I cannot believe his wife took him back.
‘The police told me I cannot say anything to him because he has done his time. I said “What about the poor girls?” But they weren’t interested.
‘When his children were younger, he was still doing the school run and was allowed to sit in his car outside schools. The police said he was allowed to do the school run.
‘He is still being driven around by his son and is all smiles. He seems to have disappeared for a while. But he will be back again.’
Her daughter’s boyfriend added: ‘I was going to smash his windows but am not allowed to.’
Another female neighbour said: ‘His son drives him around in his car. He just walks along the street. He has been a bit more cagey since he got out of prison.
‘He was never supposed to have come back to this house. But he just doesn’t care. There is not much we can do.
‘I think he owns the house and we cannot get him off the street. We think he has gone into hiding again until the fuss dies down.’
Another said: ‘When I have got the windows open I just shout ‘paedo’. But he just does not care.
‘I have not seen him since the week before last. He walks around here like he owns the place. He doesn’t care at all.
‘It’s like he does not have a care in the world. I am surprised his windows have not been smashed to be honest.
‘I am really surprised. But I have heard he has police alarms in his house. It is disgusting. Then you hear about it happening again.
‘One of the other ring leaders used to work down Rochdale market where I used to buy my clothes.
‘My daughter has just turned 16 and she wonders why I don’t let her go out and about. I don’t like her going off the street to be honest.’
Another woman whose daughter lives nearby added: ‘It is crazy he is still living here. Before we knew what had happened we thought he was a really nice guy.
‘He used to make curries for everyone. They always seemed friendly. Everyone wants him out now but it’s his own fault.
‘My daughter is 27 but when it was happening she was a teenager so it is worrying.’
