A former Labour peer sexually abused a young boy and girl when he was a teenager, a court was told.

Nazir Ahmed, who was formerly Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, went on trial at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday accused of sexual offences against children dating back more than 40 years.

A jury was told how the woman alleges that Ahmed attempted to rape her in the early 1970s, when the defendant was about 16 or 17-years-old, but she was much younger.

The former politician, now 64, is also accused of a serious sexual assault against a boy under 11, also in the early 1970s, plus the indecent assault of the same youngster.

The jury was played a recording of a telephone call between the two complainants, made by the woman after she went to the police in 2016.

Tom Little QC, prosecuting, told the jury that the call was prompted by the man contacting the woman by email saying: “I have evidence against that paedophile.”

‘Malicious fiction’

Mr Little said Ahmed claims the allegations are a “malicious fiction”, but this recording shows they were not “made-up or concocted”.

In the recording, the woman says to the man: “What they did to you was utterly wrong and it’s time now to seek justice for the little boy who could not protect himself.”

She says: “I’m not waiting any more. This is not just for me. It’s for you and for all the children Nazir Ahmed has abused and his brothers now.

“The police will look after you. They will believe you. They will take your allegations seriously. They are on your side. You are a victim.”

Sounding very upset, the man tells the woman: “I don’t want the bastard to get away with it.”

He says: “I thought I was the only one.”

Mr Little said: “The surprise you can hear from (the man) is palpable.”

The barrister said Ahmed will not be claiming there is an innocent explanation for the allegations.

Mr Little said: “(Ahmed’s) case is that they did not occur and this is all a malicious fiction.”

Ahmed was charged along with his two older brothers – Mohammed Farouq, 71, and Mohammed Tariq, 65 – but both these men have been deemed unfit to stand trial.

Farouq and Tariq face charges of indecent assault in relation to the same boy that Ahmed is alleged to have abused.

But the jury has not been asked to determine whether they are guilty of these offences, just whether they did the acts alleged.

‘This is about repeated sexual abuse that took place in Rotherham’

Opening the prosecution case, Mr Little told the court: “This is about repeated sexual abuse that took place in Rotherham over a number of years.”

He said: “Those involved kept it buried away for many years. It is no longer buried away and no longer kept quiet as they have complained.”

Mr Little said: “This was not a single incident. It was not isolated and it was not innocent sexual experimentation by children.

“It was abuse, repeated abuse, plain and simple.”

Mr Little said the male complainant told the police the abuse by the brothers began when he was at infants school.

The prosecutor told the jury: “Nasir Ahmed at the time (of the complaint) was a member of the House of Lords. He is no longer a member of the House of Lords.”

He said the woman complainant “had the courage to go to the police to make a complaint against a standing member of the House of Lords”.

Mr Little said Ahmed told police it seemed there was “an agenda behind the complaints” and he was concerned that if he responded to the allegations this would be “manipulated”.

Ahmed, from Rotherham, sat in the dock with a security guard wearing a dark suit, a purple shirt and a predominantly red tie.

He denies buggery of a boy under 11, two counts of attempted rape of a girl under 16 and the indecent assault of a boy under 11.