Peer ‘sexually exploited a woman who needed help’

A PEER has been accused of exploiting his position to have sex with a vulnerable woman who came to him for help.

Former Labour peer Lord Nazir Ahmed is also alleged to have propositioned a second woman who sought assistance.

The 61-year- old, who was once jailed for texting while driving before a crash that killed a man, denies all allegations.

Tahira Zaman, 43, told BBC’s Newsnight last night that she was suffering from anxiety and depression when she approached the peer in 2017 through a friend. She hoped Lord Ahmed would help get police to investigate a Muslim faith healer she felt was a danger to women.

Miss Zaman told Newsnight Lord Ahmed said he wrote a letter to Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick. The peer, who quit Labour after he was accused of antiSemitism, went on to have sex with Miss Zaman on several occasions.

She accepted the relationship was consensual but said: ‘I was looking for help and he took advantage of me. He abused his power.’ She claimed the relationship ended two months later when Lord Ahmed would not leave his wife.

In January last year, she complained to the Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, saying: ‘Lord Ahmed used my trust to repeatedly have intercourse with me.’ But the commissioner told Miss Zaman she was unable to investigate, stressing: ‘The behaviour you describe in your email could amount to a breach of personal Denies allegations: Lord Ahmed honour. However, the code [of conduct] only applies in relation to a peer’s parliamentary work and, from your email, it looks as if your initial contact with him was not to do with his parliamentary work.’

A second woman told Newsnight she had also asked Lord Ahmed for help. She claimed he suggested she spend the night at his London home – which she interpreted as a proposition for sex. She refused.

A senior peer told Newsnight he believed the rules should now be clarified. Lord Carlile said: ‘If someone comes to you for help, particularly if they’re vulnerable … and you form a sexual relationship, actually that’s disgraceful.’

Lord Ahmed said last night: ‘I completely deny the allegation that I have exploited my position to pursue an inappropriate relationship with any mem ber of the public (vulnerable or otherwise) or that I have acted inappropriately in the presence of women either in my personal or professional capacity.’ Lord Ahmed of Rotherham became the first Muslim life peer in 1998. In 2013, he was suspended from Labour following antiSemitism claims. He resigned from the party later that year and is now an independent.

‘He took advantage and abused power’