Lord Ahmed of Rotherham should be stripped of his title, one of his child sex abuse victims said on Friday, as the disgraced peer was jailed for five-and-a-half years.

The former Labour politician was found guilty last month of attempting to rape a young girl and sexually assaulting a young boy almost 50 years ago.

However, despite his conviction and the fact he has quit the House of Lords, the 64-year-old retains his title.

The House of Lords confirmed that, as the title was created by letters patent from the Queen, it had no power to remove it and legislation would therefore be needed to strip Ahmed of it.

During his trial, his female victim described how he had tried to rape her on at least two occasions when he was 16 or 17, and she was much younger.

Ahmed ‘has no honour and dignity’

Ahmed was also found guilty of a count of buggery against a boy under 11, also in the early Seventies.

The male victim expressed frustration that there was no Act of Parliament available to remove titles from disgraced peers.

He told the BBC: “That title is bestowed upon people that have got some honour, some dignity, and he’s got none of that.”

Reading her own victim impact statement, the woman said: “An overwhelming feeling of shame remained with me throughout my childhood and early adult years.

“It was a burden I was made to carry, and it silenced me for many years. It is now time for me to pass that burden to him – the paedophile who I know feels no personal shame.”

‘Your actions have affected their lives’

On Friday, Mr Justice Lavender jailed Ahmed for five years and six months.

He told Ahmed: “Your actions have had profound and lifelong effects on the girl and the boy, who have lived with what you did to them for between 46 and 53 years.

“Their statements express more eloquently than I ever could how your actions have affected their lives in so many different and damaging ways.”

Ahmed’s two older brothers Mohammed Farouq, 71, and Mohammed Tariq, 66, were also charged with indecent assault in relation to the same boy that Ahmed abused.

Both men were deemed unfit to stand trial, but a jury found that they did the acts alleged.

Farouq and Tariq were both given absolute discharges after the judge said the only other two options, a hospital order or a supervision order, would not be appropriate in this case.

In mitigation, Imran Khan QC said that Ahmed had “devoted his life to public service” and that his “fall from grace” had been “in the full glare of publicity,” including a campaign for him to be stripped of his title.

Mr Khan said: “That very good reputation he had has gone.”

Women’s charity urges Dominic Raab to act

The Muslim Women Network UK has written to Dominic Raab, the Lord Chancellor, calling for action.

Shaista Gohir, the charity’s chairman, said: “Once he’s completed his sentence, he could go up and down the country, speak at events, use that title to influence.

“What kind of message does that send to victims that somebody that’s committed such an appalling crime can continue to use that privilege and that title?”

Ahmed, a former member of the Labour Party, resigned from the House of Lords in November 2020 after reading the contents of a conduct committee report which found he sexually assaulted a vulnerable woman who sought his help.

The report made him the first peer to be recommended for expulsion, but he resigned before this could be implemented.