A PAEDOPHILE jailed as part of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang has launched a fresh legal challenge against his deportation - 11 YEARS after he was jailed.
Perverted Qari Rauf, 54, and Adil Khan, 53, were both convicted of sickening sex crimes along with seven other men after they plied 47 young girls with alcohol and drove them around the north to have sex with other predators.
They were jailed in 2012 for their part in the sex ring in the Greater Manchester town - with Rauf handed a six year prison term while Khan was ordered to serve eight years.
Their crimes were dramatised in the BBC programme Three Girls.
While behind bars, then Home Secretary Theresa May ruled that the Pakistani-born men should be stripped of their UK citizenship and returned to their homeland on completion of their prison sentences.
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The men spent several years appealing her decision on the basis that it infringed on their right to a family life as they both have wives and children in the UK.
They also claimed it was against their human rights to be kicked out of the UK as they had renounced their Pakistani citizenship, meaning they would be stateless.
Last August First-tier Tribunal Immigration Judge Charlotte Welsh and Judge Siew Ling Yoke rejected their appeals in a 31-page ruling.
They said Khan had shown a “breathtaking lack of remorse” and that there was a “very strong public interest” in removing both men as they upheld the previous decision to kick them out of the country.
The Sun understands Khan, who impregnated a girl aged 13 and trafficked a 15-year-old victim to other men, was handed a deportation order in January.
But dad-of-five Rauf, who abused a girl aged 15, has appealed the ruling on an “error of law”.
He is now scheduled to have another court hearing this month - with legal aid funding his law firm which has been granted anonymity.
A source said: “This pair have used every legal trick in the book to try and stay in the UK for as long as possible.”
Former GMP cop Maggie Oliver, who helped bring the men to justice, urged the authorities to reform the immigration system and kick the men out.
She said: “It’s disgraceful. They should have been deported straight from prison. These men are not victims. They are paedophiles and criminals. They shouldn’t be allowed to use public money to repeatedly play the system.
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“If they are able to wriggle through the legal system for so many years then it is clear that the system is not working and needs reforming.
"The victims are left feeling failed and that they don’t have a voice. It’s disgusting. The legal bills these men have racked up will be in the millions. It’s not right.”
A Home Office spokesperson 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.
“The Government will continue to pursue all legal options against these perpetrators and protect the victims of these appalling crimes.”
Two members of the grooming gang have already been deported.
Last week Home Secretary Suella Braverman visited a number of towns including Rochdale which have been blighted by grooming gangs.
She unveiled a new set of measures aimed at tackling the problem including a new police taskforce of specialist officers, tougher sentences, and a consultation on mandatory reporting for adults working with children.