Nine Telford and Wellington men in court on sex charges

A group of Shropshire men appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court today in connection with human trafficking, sexual exploitation and sexual offence charges.

The men, all from Telford and Wellington, were arrested as part of the long-running Operation Chalice investigation. They were given conditional bail until a plea and case management hearing on November 26.

Before the court were Rafaqat Hussain, 26, of Urban Gardens, Wellington; Noshad Hussain, 20, of Regent Street, Wellington; Mohammed Choudhrey, 51, of Solway Drive, Sutton Hill; Marhoof Khan, 32, of Caradoc Flats, Wellington; Mubarek Ali, 27, and Ahdel Ali, 22, both of Regent Street, Wellington; Mohammed Yunis, 58, and Abdul Rouf, 33, both of Kingsland, Arleston; and Mohammed Sultan, 23, of Victoria Avenue, Wellington.

Tanveer Ahmed, 38, of Urban Gardens, Wellington, failed to appear for the hearing but no action was taken.

They are charged with a number of offences including human trafficking, supplying drugs, inciting prostitution, rape and trafficking persons for sexual exploitation.

All of the charges are alleged to have happened between January 1, 2008, and December 7, last year.

Mr Mark Weekes, prosecuting, said two trials were due to take place next year.