The ringleader of a child sex grooming gang has appealed against deportation from Britain on human rights grounds.
Shabir Ahmed, 63, claimed his child sex offence convictions in 2012 was a conspiracy to "scapegoat" Muslims, an immigration tribunal heard.
Ahmed, who is serving a 22-year jail sentence, appeared at the First Tier Immigration Tribunal, sitting at Manchester Crown Court.
He is appealing against a decision to strip him of UK citizenship.
Described by a judge as a "violent, hypocritical bully", Ahmed led a group of men who preyed on girls as young as 13 in Rochdale, plying them with drink and drugs before "passing them around" for sex.
Vinesh Mandalia, representing the Home Office, said Ahmed's appeal includes an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights on grounds the conviction is unsafe because it was a "conspiracy by everyone involved."
Here we go again...
Here we go again...
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”