Five in court on Rotherham child sex abuse charges

Qurban Ali (52), Majid Bostan (37), Shelley Davies (40) and Karen MacGregor (58) were at Rotherham Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday where they faced a number of charges.

Arshid Hussain (40) appeared via videolink from his bed to face 45 charges.

All five defendants face a joint charge of conspiracy to rape a girl aged under 16.

MacGregor and Davies have been jointly charged with conspiracy to procure a woman to become a common prostitute, and both women face a separate charge of false imprisonment.

Ali is charged with indecent assault of a female aged under 16, rape of a female aged under 16 and procuring a female under the age of 21 to have sex with another.

Majid Boston has been charged with indecently assaulting a girl aged under 16.

All the offences relate to alleged incidents in Rotherham between 1993 and 1995.

District Judge for Rotherham, Mr John Foster, passed an order which banned the publication of the defendant’s addresses despite representation from the Advertiser that it was in the public interest and standard practice for their addresses be known.

None of the defendants entered pleas and were bailed conditionally to appear at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday.

Hussain failed to attend an earlier magistrates’ court hearing on June 25 due to poor health but was told must attend the Crown Court in person.