SHEFFIELD: The Sheffield Crown Court Wednesday found former Labour member of House of Lords, Nazir Ahmed guilty of sexual offences against two children in the 1970s but he denied all allegations and charges and declared himself innocent.
According to a BBC report, Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham was convicted of a serious sexual assault against a boy and the attempted rape of a young girl. The judge, Mr Justice Nicholas Lavender, bailed Lord Ahmed to appear at the same court for sentencing on 4 February.
Sheffield Crown Court heard the repeated sexual abuse happened in Rotherham when he was a teenager. The 64-year-old, who appeared under his real name of Nazir Ahmed, had denied the charges. A detailed hearing of the case was conducted in the third week of November 2021.
Upon contacting, Lord Nazir Ahmed told ‘The Nation’, London that he does not agree to court’s decision acceptable and has instructed his lawyers for appeal. “The verdicts have gone completely against the evidences and therefore, we have instruction our lawyers to appeal against the conviction”.
He said that the allegations are 50 years old with vested interest and certain vendetta involved behind this baseless and unfounded case. “We have 28 days to appeal so I have instructed my lawyers to submit an appeal.
“It is a conspiracy against me. All charges an allegations are bases and unfounded. The verdicts have gone completely against the evidences”; says Lord Nazir Ahmed
Lord Nazir Ahmed reminded that the case was stopped by a senior judge earlier last year and CPS appealed. “I shall unveil the curtain of the conspiracy hatched against me and will expose the elements behind this intrigue”, Lord Nazir Ahmed stated.
He said that on previous hearing in 3rd week of November last year, the prosecution tried to established allegations against him but he categorically stated that he told police it seemed there was ‘an agenda behind the complaints’ and he was concerned that if he responded to the allegations this would be ‘manipulated’.
He denied buggery of a boy under 11, two counts of attempted rape of a girl under 16 and the indecent assault of a boy under 11.
On previous hearing, the jury was told how the woman alleges that Ahmed attempted to rape her in the early 1970s, when the defendant was about 16 or 17-years-old but she was much younger. The jury was played a recording of a telephone call between the two complainants, made by the woman after she went to the police in 2016.
During the trial, prosecutor Tom Little QC told the court Lord Ahmed had attempted to rape the girl in the early 1970s, when the defendant was aged 16 or 17 but she was much younger. The attack on the boy, who was aged under 11 at the time, also happened during the same period, the court was told.
Mr Little said Lord Ahmed claimed the allegations were a “malicious fiction” but a phone recording of a 2016 conversation between the two victims showed they were not “made-up or concocted”.
The woman’s call was prompted by an email from the male victim saying: “I have evidence against that paedophile,” the jury previously heard.
Lord Ahmed was charged along with his two older brothers, Mohammed Farouq, 71, and Mohammed Tariq, 65, but both were deemed unfit to stand trial. Both had faced charges of indecent assault against the same boy abused by Lord Ahmed.
Though the men did not face a criminal trial, jurors concluded that they did commit the alleged acts after hearing evidence in the case.
Lord Ahmed, who was convicted following a retrial, resigned from the House of Lords in November 2020 after a conduct committee report concluded he had sexually and emotionally exploited a vulnerable woman who sought his help.
The inquiry into his behaviour followed a BBC Newsnight investigation. The report made him the first peer to be recommended for expulsion but he resigned before this could be implemented.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime division, said: “By these verdicts the jury has clearly decided that no matter the delay between the offences and the trial, and the defences raised, they could be sure that the accounts of the victims were credible and true.
“One of these defendants held a position of power, influence and responsibility for some time in the House of Lords but this case clearly illustrates that where there is sufficient evidence, even in challenging cases, the CPS will bring a prosecution, put evidence before a jury and see rightful convictions.”