Grooming gang rapist escapes UK and did what the government couldn’t

Tuesday, 4 November 2025 14:48

By David Murphy

A convicted Rochdale grooming gang member has finally left the UK, not through deportation, but by disappearing on his own, doing what the Home Office failed to achieve for over a decade.

Adil Khan, who raped and trafficked children, left the country under his own steam last month after years of dodging deportation on human rights grounds. Despite multiple court rulings in favour of removal, the government was never able to physically deport him. But now, after more than 11 years since his conviction, he’s gone.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed Khan was missing during a routine check on 21 October. Officers later confirmed he had left the country. The Home Office, now backpedalling, insists a deportation order means he cannot legally return.

Khan, now in his 50s, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2012 for impregnating a teenage girl and trafficking another child for sex. He was released on licence in 2016, but had remained in the UK, against the will of the public and the sentencing judge, after a long series of appeals arguing deportation would breach his human rights.

For years, he and fellow abuser Abdul Rauf resisted deportation to Pakistan, despite both being told in court they would be removed after serving their sentences.

Now, it appears Khan has succeeded where the British legal system and Home Office failed, by simply walking away.

Rochdale MP Paul Waugh, who has led calls for their deportation, said Khan’s exit must mark the beginning, not the end, of justice.

If this vile paedophile is no longer in the country, that’s very welcome news. His victims, and many of my constituents in Rochdale, will want reassurance that he’s gone for good.

The public will also want more details of his exact whereabouts, but I’ve been told by the Home Office that he will never be allowed to set foot in the UK ever again.

Ever since I was elected, I’ve been working hard to get Adil Khan and his fellow abuser Abdul Rauf deported to Pakistan. Khan may be gone, but Rauf needs to be gone too.

A Home Office spokesperson said:

Adil Khan is a vile man who has fled the country and will not be able to return. Our thoughts are with the victims and survivors of grooming gangs who have shown immense bravery throughout their pursuit of justice.

GMP stated:

We’ve regularly conducted compliance checks with Adil Khan since his release from prison. On our most recent visit on 21 October he was not there and our enquiries have since established he has left the country.

Khan’s departure is likely to reignite debate about the justice system’s handling of historic grooming gang cases, especially in Rochdale, where anger remains over institutional failures, delayed justice and the lack of deportations promised by courts over a decade ago.

In October, Councillor Farooq Ahmed called for an emergency town hall meeting to demand a full inquiry, survivor-led accountability, and a review of safeguarding failures.

The fact that one of the most reviled figures in that case managed to vanish, and only then was declared permanently banned, may raise more questions than it answers.