Former peer Nazir Ahmed found guilty of serious sexual assault

The former peer Nazir Ahmed has been found guilty of serious sexual assault against a young boy and the attempted rape of a girl when he was a teenager in the 1970s.

Ahmed, 64, was found guilty on Wednesday of buggery against a boy in Rotherham, and twice attempting to rape a girl. Buggery was the legal term for the specific sexual assault at the time of the offences.

The former Lord Ahmed of Rotherham was charged alongside his two older brothers, Mohammed Farouq, 71, and Mohammed Tariq, 65, but both were deemed unfit to stand trial.

A woman told a jury at Sheffield crown court that Ahmed attempted to rape her in 1973 and 1974, when the defendant was about 16 or 17 years old, but she was much younger. The former politician was also found guilty of a serious sexual assault against a boy under 11 in 1972.

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.

Ahmed, who denied all the charges, was found guilty on Wednesday of two counts of attempted rape and one of buggery.

Appointed a life peer by Tony Blair, Ahmed resigned from the Labour party in 2013. His brothers Farouq and Tariq faced charges of indecent assault in relation to the same boy that Ahmed abused and, also on Wednesday, the jury found that they had carried out the acts alleged.

The judge, Mr Justice Lavender, bailed Ahmed to appear at the same court for sentencing on 4 February.