MONSTER DAD
My ‘Telford grooming gang’ dad killed my mum in a house fire – now I want him caged again
A WOMAN whose dad murdered her mum in a house fire is on a mission to expose his alleged links to "Britain's worst ever" paedophile ring before he's released from jail.
Tasnim Lowe, 20, was 16 months old when she was found wrapped in a blanket under an apple tree in her back garden as her Telford home burned down with her mum, grandmother and aunt inside.
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Her dad, taxi driver Azhar Ali Mehmood, told police that he had taken Tasnim out of the house and saved her life - but he was later charged with all three murders after they found he had poured petrol inside the home and set it alight.
At the time of the murders in 2000, local newspapers dubbed him a “house blaze killer” and, “The county’s worst ever murderer” and he was jailed for life.
Now, 19 years on, Azhar Ali Mehmood is eligible for release - with a decision from the parole board expected early next year.
For years, Tasnim has been tormented by thoughts as to why her dad killed her relatives.
But it wasn't until March last year that a newspaper report exposed the most horrifying revelation of all.
It claimed that her mum was a possible victim of the child grooming scandal in Telford, Shropshire - described as Britain's "worst ever".
Mehmood was thought to be part of a ring that preyed on up to 1,000 children in the '80s.
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She even visited the killer in jail when she was 16.
In a three-part BBC documentary called Why Dad Killed Mum: My Family’s Secret, Tasnim discovers Lucy may have been groomed and raped by her evil father.
Tasnim said: "I found this out on Mother’s Day of all days. The article described how my dad groomed Lucy from the age of 14, and that other girls being abused were threatened with 'ending up like Lucy' - in other words, dead — if they told anyone.
";I was so confused at first. When you’re taught a certain story, you think that’s the only story it could possibly be."
Not charging him belittles the ongoing abuse Lucy suffered at my dad’s hands. He should be on the sex offenders’ register for the safety of others
Tasnim Lowe
Tasnim now wants answers from her killer dad - even though senior police say there will be no fresh probe into Mehmood's alled sex offences.
This is because officers should have addressed this in the initial trial. Instead, they were focused on securing a triple murder conviction.
But Tasnim insists her dad should be charged with child sexual exploitation.
She explained: "Not charging him belittles the ongoing abuse Lucy suffered at my dad’s hands. He should be on the sex offenders’ register for the safety of others."
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Tasnim’s mum, Lucy Lowe, found out she was pregnant with Tasnim at just 14 - and was killed by Mehmood when she was only 16 years old.
After the blaze, Tasnim was raised by her grandfather, George Lowe.
A court order had stated that Tasnim couldn’t have contact with Mehmood until she was 16.
Speaking of the moment she came face to face with her father, she said: "Social services arranged the meeting at Featherstone Prison, Wolverhampton.
"I had an hour with my dad, which was not very long. I was really, really nervous.
"It wasn’t the best timing. It was the first week of college so I was already really anxious about that and on top of that I had a bad cold.
"I walked into the room and I didn’t really know what to do. He got very tearful. He looked just like the old photos."
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The investigation into the Telford paedophile ring exposed horrific details of grooming that had been going on for decades, with girls raped, beaten, sold and some even killed.
Survivors explained how the abuse worked; the groomers were nice to them at first – buying them takeaways or presents – before taking them to The Wrekin, a famous beauty spot on the outskirts of Telford to be raped, or to people’s houses and passed around to friends.