A peer and former Labour councillor has been jailed for five years and six months for the attempted rape of a young girl and sexually assaulting a boy under 11.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, 64, was found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court last month of two counts of attempted rape and one of buggery while he was a teenager in the 1970s in Rotherham.

Ahmed quit the House of Lords in 2020 after a different woman said he had sexually exploited her in 2017, but as a life peer he retains the title Lord Ahmed of Rotherham.

The jury heard from a woman who said Ahmed attempted to rape her in the early 1970s, when he was about 16 or 17 years old but she was much younger.

He was also found guilty of a serious sexual assault against a boy under 11, also in the early 1970s.

Victim: ‘The paedophile feels no personal shame’

Jailing the peer, Mr Justice Lavender said: “Your actions have had profound and lifelong effects on the girl and the boy, who have lived with what you did to them for between 46 and 53 years.

“Their statements express more eloquently than I ever could how your actions have affected their lives in so many different and damaging ways.”

Reading her own victim statement in court, the female victim said: “An overwhelming feeling of shame remained with me throughout my childhood and early adult years.

“It was a burden I was made to carry, and it silenced me for many years.

“It is now time for me to pass that burden to him – the paedophile who I know feels no personal shame.”

She said Ahmed has now been “publicly shamed” for his actions.

Ahmed’s two older brothers also assaulted boy

Ahmed’s two older brothers, Mohammed Farouq, 71, and Mohammed Tariq, 66, were also charged with indecent assault in relation to the boy Ahmed abused.

Both brothers were deemed unfit to stand trial, but a jury found they did the acts they were accused of.

They were given absolute discharges as the judge said the only other options – a hospital order or a supervision order – would not be appropriate in this case.

In a victim statement, the man who was sexually abused by the three men said it had “affected me on a daily basis” and he was unable to show affection to his own children.

He said: “I buried the abuse and carried it with me on my own for years and years.

“I feel shame because of what these men did to me. This is not about revenge, this is about justice.”

The man demanded the government strip Lord Ahmed of his title, which was recommended by Tony Blair. Only an Act of Parliament can remove his title, but none currently exists.

In mitigation, Imran Khan QC said Ahmed had “devoted his life to public service” and that his “fall from grace” had been “in the full glare of publicity,” including a campaign for him to be stripped of his title.

Mr Khan said: “That very good reputation he had has gone.”

The judge said legal guidelines meant the sentence had to be in line with what would have been imposed when the offences were committeed.

Ahmed received three and a half years for the buggery offence and two concurrent sentences of two years for each of the attempted rapes.

Related posts:

Election campaigns to restart following death of Prince Philip Blair: Starmer ‘struggling to break through with the public’ Cameron says he was paid ‘far more than what I earned as PM’ to lobby on behalf of Greensill Devil will be in the detail of Australia trade deal – this is what we know so far PM’s plan to quit, ‘rambling stories’ and ‘hopeless’ Hancock – what Cummings has claimed Parliament staff ‘incredulous and angry’ at MPs not having to wear masks from Monday Ministers delay publication of low-carbon heating strategy after disagreements What does PM’s vow to ‘level up’ really mean? MPs enjoyed more than £60k of freebies to COVID test events – including England games ‘Sausage war’ between UK and EU ‘not even handbags at dawn’, MPs told Situation at UK’s biggest port ‘improving’ and Britons should shop for Christmas presents ‘normally’ Brexit is back, but for now the Northern Ireland Protocol row is a negotiation not a standoff