VIDEO: Rotherham's Lord Ahmed in court over 1970s sex assault charges

The lord (pictured) is charged with three sexual offences against a boy and a girl aged under 13 dating back to the 1970s.

Ahmed (61), of East Bawtry Road, Rotherham, is due to appear before magistrates in Sheffield this morning.

His solicitor, Mr Haroon Shah, briefly addressed reporters and photographers gathered outside Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.

“He denies the allegations and will be doing everything he can in order to prove his innocence,” said Mr Shah, declining to comment further as court proceedings had begun.

Ahmed is charged with two counts of attempting to rape a girl aged under 13 between 1973-1974 when he would have been aged between 16-17.

He is also accused of indecently assaulting a boy aged under 13 between 1971 and 1972 when he would have been aged between 14-15.

Two other men have been charged as part of the investigation.

Mohammed Farouq (68), of Worrygoose Lane, Rotherham, faces four counts of indecent assault on a boy aged under 13 between 1968 and 1972.

Mohammed Tariq (63), of Gerard Road, Rotherham, is charged with two counts of indecent assault on a boy aged under 13 between 1970 and 1972.

Lord Ahmed, who is one of Britain's first Muslim peers, sat as a Labour councillor in Rotherham between 1990 and 2000 and was chairman of the party’s South Yorkshire branch between 1993-2000, before resigning from the party in 2013.