Twelve men charged with historic child sex offences

Another 12. They have been charged. They were due at Bradford Magistrates Court on 20th May but what happened then has not been reported.  Charges this serious will have to be committed to the Crown Court, but whether that was done last week, or a further appearance will be required I don’t know. Reporting restrictions go on these cases ever earlier. And as I have said before, I appreciate (having worked in a Crown Court) that reporting restrictions are often essential to protect the innocent victims and not prejudice other trials of connected defendants, or further charges, I cannot escape a sneaking suspicion that the protocol is being used ever more frequently to keep the public in the dark.

They follow the same format. The trial begins and the first day may be reported. But these days not always. There then follows a reporting restriction for the duration of the trial. Then a short report stating that Man A was convicted of rape, say and sentenced to 22 years imprisonment, and Man B convicted of rape, 18 years, and so on. One or two remarks of the Judge will be quoted, then a statement from the senior police officer commending the bravery of the survivors. It won’t be a headline story, and will usually be regional news only.

I know a case where one Crown Court (in the north) has tried a 30+hander recently, I know that there have been convictions and certain dates when sentences were passed, and dates when sentences were expected to be passed.  But who was convicted of what, what those sentences were, and whether the later hearings for sentence even took place isn’t known. I dare not mention the court or the names of the men who went through the local Magistrates court two years ago, else this website could be at best reprimanded.  I check the local paper and other sources regularly; when they are free to report I hope to post here.

These latest arrests are for historic offences. And it is good that they are taken seriously at last. But as another blogger commented this morning;  

The big test . . . will be in how they deal with these contemporaneous cases. . . If however the (he names a specific force but the principle holds good for all)  suddenly start working on the current cases and current complaints and get results for these investigations then we will know that genuine change has occurred.

From the Telegraph and Argus

TWELVE men, most of whom are from the Keighley and Bradford district, are due to appear before Bradford Magistrates (on Friday 20th May) charged with child sexual offences.

Police described the alleged offending as “non-recent” as they released the names of those charged. All of the charges relate to two victims and are alleged to have occurred in the Bradford and Keighley areas between 1996 and 1998.

Abdul Shukoor, 45, of Keighley, has been charged with gross indecency and indecent assault of a girl under the age of 14.
Amreaz Ashghar, 45, of Keighley, has been charged with two counts of rape and indecent assault of a girl under 16 and gross indecency of a girl under 14.
Perwaz Ashghar, 48, of Nottingham, has been charged with indecent assault of a girl under 16.
Mohamed Shabir Din, 45, of Keighley, has been charged with six counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault of a girl under 16.
Ibrar Hussain, 44, of Keighley, has been charged with rape.
Sajid Mahmood, 42, of Keighley, has been charged with rape.
Zehroon Razaq, 44, of Keighley, has been charged with rape.
Sheraz Ahktar Khan, 44, of Keighley, has been charged with rape.
Mushtaq Ahmed, 52, of Keighley, has been charged with two counts of rape and indecent assault on a girl under 16.
Imtiaz Ahmed, 58, of Keighley, has been charged with two counts of rape.
Fayaz Ahmed, 42, of Bingley, has been charged with two counts of rape.
Willard Anthony Clunis, 64, of Bradford, has been charged with indecent assault of a girl under 16.