Nine men appear at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court accused of historic child sexual offences

The men appeared at the court today (Wednesday, April 19) and have all been charged as part of Operation Stovewood, the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse in and around Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

The defendants have been charged over offences alleged to have taken place between 2003 and 2008. Their details are as follows:

Tahir Yasin, aged 37, of Burngreave Street, Sheffield, charged with six counts of rape;
Ramin Bari, aged 36, of Batemore Road, Sheffield, charged with four counts of rape
Mohammed Amar, aged 41, of Elizabeth Way, Rotherham, charged with two counts of indecent assault; Mohammed Siyab, aged 43, of Stevenson Drive, Rotherham, charged with two counts of rape, one of indecent assault and one of trafficking;
Omar Mahmood, aged 36, of Grosvenor Road, Rotherham, charged with two counts of rape;
Yasser Ajaib, aged 38, of Walter Street, Rotherham, charged with one count of indecent assault;
Mohammed Zameer Sadiq, aged 48, of Richard Street, Rotherham, charged with two counts of rape;
Abid Sadiq, aged 42, formerly of Rotherham, charged with three counts of rape and one of indecent assault.

A ninth man, Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, aged 41, formerly of Rotherham has separately been charged with two counts of rape and two of indecent assault, which are alleged to have taken place in 2001 and 2002.

Following today’s appearance at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court, the case has been sent to Sheffield Crown Court, where all nine men are scheduled to appear on May 17.

I’ll check the CC Sheffield list on the 17th; however I suspect that a reporting restriction will be imposed there and nothing will be heard of this again in the public press that I can repeat until, if convicted, (and I MUST continue to believe in the fundamental principle of presumed innocent until proven guilty) a terse paragraph will appear giving their sentences in maybe 18 months time.  I know that the victims privacy and the integrity of linked trials must be protected, but as I have said before, I suspect that those valid principles are being misused to keep these trials and the offences committed from further public awareness.