Former Labour peer Lord Ahmed charged with attempted rape and indecent assault

Rotherham politician charged with three separate child sex offences

Lord Nazir Ahmed (PA)

Former Labour peer Lord Nazir Ahmed has been charged with two attempted rapes and one indecent assault.

The 61-year-old now faces trial for the three sexual offences following an investigation by South Yorkshire Police.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed the charges relate to two alleged victims, a girl and a boy under the age of 13.

The offences allegedly took place in Rotherham between 1971 and 1974 when Lord Ahmed was still a teenager, aged between 14 and 17.

Confirming the charges, the force said the peer was one of three men due to appear in court next month.

“Three men from Rotherham have been charged with sexual offences,” said a police spokesperson. “Nazir Ahmed … is charged with two counts of attempted rape and one count of indecent assault.”

Lord Ahmed is alleged to have committed the indecent assault on a boy under 13 when he was 14 or 15. He is also accused of two attempted rapes when he was 16 or 17.

Mohamed Farooq, 68, has also been charged with four counts of indecent assault, while Mohammed Tariq, 63, faces two indecent assault charges, the force said. The CPS confirmed the charges related to alleged indecent assaults on a boy under the age of 13.

The South Yorkshire Police spokesperson added they were charged on 28 February and are all due to appear at Sheffield Magistrates Court on 19 March.

Born in Kashmir, Lord Ahmed came to the UK with his parents as a child. He joined the Labour Party in 1975 at the age of 18 and in 1990 became Rotherham’s first Asian councillor.

He was made a peer by Tony Blair in 1998, but was suspended by the Labour party in 2013 over allegations that he blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his 12-week jail term for dangerous driving.

Lord Ahmed apologised for making “unacceptable” comments. He later resigned from party while a disciplinary process was under way and remains a non-affiliated member of the House of Lords.