AN ASIAN peer appeared in court on Tuesday (19) after he was charged with two historical counts of child abuse.
Lord Nazir Ahmed, 61, is accused of two counts of attempting to rape a girl and indecent assault of a boy under 13.
The incidents were alleged to have taken place between 1971 and 1974 – when Ahmed was a teenager.
Speaking only to confirm his name, age and address, the peer entered no pleas during the 10-minute hearing in Sheffield Crown Court.
However, his solicitor, Haroon Shah, later confirmed Lord Ahmed would plead not guilty to all the charges brought against him.
The peer has been charged alongside his two brothers, Mohamed Farouq, 68, and Mohammed Tariq, 63. They have been charged with crimes linked to indecent assault of a teenage boy.
Farouq and Tariq entered not guilty pleas during the hearing.
All three men are due to appear in court on April 16.
Lord Ahmed, who was made a life peer in 1998 by then-prime minister Tony Blair, moved to the UK from Pakistan in 1969.
He joined the Labour Party in 1975 aged 18 and became a councillor in Rotherham in 1990.
He resigned from the party in 2015.
