OPERATION NAUTICAL: 17 men appear at Oxford Crown Court accused of sex offences

From the Oxford Times and Oxford Mail

SEVERAL men accused of a catalogue of child sex offences have appeared in court. The 17 men were arrested after dawn raids in Oxford and Banbury last month as part of Operation Nautical, a police inquiry into child sexual exploitation. The court was told the men had to be split into groups to fit into the video link room.

Shabir Dogar, 23, of Bertie Place, Oxford, Shabaz Khan, 23, of Cosin Close, Oxford, and Joseph Suraina, 22, of Marlborough Close, Oxford, appeared at Oxford Crown Court via video link from HMP Bullingdon yesterday morning. They were followed by Shohab Dogar, 23, of Tawney Street, Oxford, Yasin Hamid, 20, of Moorbank, Oxford, and Usman Iddris, 22, of Northway, Headington, who all also appeared via video link from the Bicester prison.

All six, who were remanded into custody, are due to enter pleas at the court on July 7 and a provisional trial date was set for September 11.

In the afternoon, 11 men appeared. Qamran Hafiz, 24, of Danesmoor, Banbury, Atiq Hussain, 23, of Avenue Road, Banbury, Tafail Mohammed, 23, of East Close, Banbury and Marcelo Suarez, 20, of Hillside Close, Banbury, Leon Cole, 19, of Alma Road, Banbury, Ahsan Raza, 19, of Churchill Road, Birmingham, Abdul Safraz, 31, of Deacon Way, Banbury, Nasser Younis, 37, of Sandford Green, Banbury, and Atique Akhtar, 23, and Aamir Arfi, 23, of no fixed abode.

A further man Waqas Hussain, 24, of no fixed abode, appeared via video link. The 11 men, who are expected to enter their pleas on July 14, were told a provisional trial date had been set for January 2.