Rochdale child sex victim comes 'face to face' with abuser in Asda

A victim of an infamous child sex grooming gang in Rochdale says her heart "stopped beating" when she came "face to face" with her abuser in Asda.

The woman, who is entitled to anonymity as the victim of a sex crime, is said to have encountered Adil Khan despite him losing an appeal against deportation to Pakistan in 2018.

She ran from Asda in tears and reported the 50-year-old to the authorities after she spotted him with a child, the Manchester Evening News reports.

The woman, who was 13 at the time of the abuse, is said to have confided in former Greater Manchester Police detective Maggie Oliver.

The ex-police officer worked on the investigation into the Rochdale child sex grooming gang but resigned as she felt the girls had been let down by the authorities.

She later turned whistleblower and campaigner.

The former detective said: "She walked into an aisle and was face to face with him.

"He had a seven or eight-year-old child with him. How can he have a child in his care?

"She just left her trolley and ran out in tears and called me.

"The question is why are they still here? Why are they back in Rochdale?

"What about the rights of the children they abused? It really is outrageous."

The young woman is also reported to have told the detective: "Oh my God, he's been in Asda. I've never been so scared in all my life. I feel like my heart just stopped beating."

The victim is said be angry that Khan and two other members of the gang are still in the town, despite losing their appeal against deportation to Pakistan two years ago.

Khan, a former taxi driver who was said to have been nicknamed Billy, started a relationship with the woman when she was a schoolgirl.

He started a relationship with her just weeks after his wife delivered their first child.

Khan also got his abuse victim pregnant when she had just turned 13.

He also trafficked a 15-year-old girl to other abusers and used violence when she complained.

Khan, of Oswald Street in Rochdale, was jailed for eight years in 2012 but was released in 2016.

A jury convicted him of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.

Khan was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

He remained out on licence after his release but that sentence has now elapsed.

Khan and two other members of the gang, the only members to have dual UK-Pakistani citizenship, were told they would be deported after their British citizenship was revoked.

The three men lost an appeal against the Home Office ruling in 2018 but remain in the UK.

It is believed Khan, together with Qari Abdul Rauf and Abdul Aziz, remain in Rochdale.

They were among nine men jailed in May 2012 after being found guilty of grooming and sexually exploiting young girls.

In some cases the girls, aged in their early teens, were raped and pimped out to paying customers in Rochdale and Oldham.

The young victim who spotted Khan in Asda is said to have been represented by the character "Ruby" in a BBC drama about the scandal Three Girls.