Oldham grooming gang leader 'Daddy' was employed by council

The notorious ringleader of a Muslim grooming gang portrayed in the BBC's Three Girls series was employed as a welfare rights officer by Oldham Council, a major report has revealed. 

Shabir Ahmed, who led the sexual abuse ring in Rochdale and was nicknamed 'Daddy', was seconded to the Oldham Pakistani Community Centre during his time at the local authority.

Ahmed, identified only as 'Offender A' in the report, is now serving a 22-year jail sentence.

He was a sex predator and former taxi driver, and was described as the ‘ringleader’ of the nine-strong group found guilty of exploiting girls as young as 13 at Tasty Bites and another takeaway in Heywood from 2007.

Despite multiple concerns being raised about him and his arrest for the sexual assault of children, police failed to tell his employers.

The report said that although Greater Manchester Police received an allegation of child sex abuse against Shabir Ahmed in 2005, officers chose not to inform the council. The report added that if they had told the council 'it may have potentially avoided the tragic abuse of other children'. 

Ahmed left his council role the following year, and in 2012 police informed the council of a further allegation which occurred while he was part of the welfare team. 

However, the report said the case was ‘inexplicably closed...within a few days’. By then the former taxi driver – nicknamed ‘Daddy’ – had already been charged with sex offences, including two rapes.

Welfare rights officers are responsible for helping people with what benefits and allowances they are able to get. 

The report looked into the alleged grooming of children in council homes, shisha bars and by taxi drivers in the town and outrageously concluded there was no evidence of a cover up or 'widespread' child sex abuse in those settings.