5 HELD OVER TELFORD
Men to face charges on alleged abuse of schoolgirl after our probe into town
FIVE men have been charged with child sexual exploitation offences in Telford following the Sunday Mirror’s investigation into abuse in the town.
Police launched an investigation last year after we revealed hundreds of girls had been preyed on over four decades.
Sources say officers have been given the names of at least 80 alleged victims.
A dozen women came forward to claim they had been child victims in the week after we published our investigation in March last year. It is understood more have made disclosures since the West Mercia force opened its inquiry.
The five men appeared at Birmingham Crown Court this week over the alleged abuse of a schoolgirl during a three-year period. Mohammed Ali Sultan, 32, faces four charges of indecent assault and one of rape. Nazam Akhtar, 34, has been charged with one count of rape.
Mohammad Rizwan, 36, and Amjad Hussain, 37, are both charged with two indecent assaults. Shafiq Younas, 34, faces one count of indecent assault. They deny all charges. The offences are alleged to have taken place between September 2000 and May 2003, when the five were teenagers. Four were given unconditional bail. Sultan was remanded in custody.
A public inquiry, chaired by ex-judge Tom Crowther, will begin this summer into offending dating back to 1989.
Police confirmed: “Operation Vapour is an investigation into non-recent child sexual exploitation. As a result of Operation Vapour, five men have been charged.” IT’S all bright and breezy for pop star Sophie EllisBextor as the wind plays havoc with her yellow babydoll dress.
The Groovejet singer, 40, was supporting Kylie Minogue at this weekend’s Lytham Festival in Lancs when it got a bit blowy and the crowd saw her undies.
But mum-of-five Sophie bravely carried on like it was gust one of those things.