Three British-Pakistanis, who were members of a notorious grooming gang, will be stripped of their British citizenship and could be deported following a court ruling.
Abdul Aziz, Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf along with six others were nine jailed for crimes including rape and trafficking of girls as young as 13 in Rochdale, in 2012.
Aziz, Khan and Rauf were jailed between six and nine years.
The UK’s Court of Appeal judges rejected their challenge on Thursday making way for their deportation.
The then-UK Home Secretary Theresa May, now Prime Ministerm, said in 2015 that the Pakistani nationals should no longer hold British citizenship.
BBC quoted Justice Sales saying, “Given the extremely serious nature of the offending by each appellant, there is no good ground for calling that conclusion into question.”
“All the men treated the girls as though they were worthless and beyond all respect,” he added.
Earlier the trio had lost legal challenges against the decision, which they argued violated their human right to family life.
While the court rule has paved the way for the UK government to deport them at the end of their sentences, they would have a further legal right to appeal and the process could take months.
“This was an appalling case. We welcome the court's finding and will now consider next steps,” BBC quoted a UK Home Office spokeswoman.