Nine Telford men face new sex case trials

Nine Telford men alleged to have been involved in sexual exploitation and child prostitution are to face a series of fresh trials.

The men, arrested in connection with the police investigation, Operation Chalice, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court today.

They had been ordered to appear before the court after the collapse of an earlier trial at Stafford on legal grounds.

Mrs Deborah Gould, prosecuting, told the court that the defendants in the case would now face a series of separate trials.

The defendants include Mubarek Ali, 28, of Regent Street, Wellington; Ahdel Ali, 23, of Regent Street, Wellington; Mohammed Sultan, 24, of Victoria Avenue, Wellington; Tanveer Ahmed, 39, of Urban Gardens, Wellington; Marhoof Khan, 33, of Caradoc Flats, Wellington; Noshad Hussain, 21, of Regent Street, Wellington; Mohammed Choudry, 52, of Solway Drive, Sutton Hill, Telford; Mohammed Yunis, 59, of Kingsland, Arleston; and Abdul Rouf, 33, of Kingsland, Arleston.

Mrs Gould, prosecuting, said provisional charges had been drawn up in relation to the defendants.

It was expected there would be three fresh trials, she said.

Mrs Gould said one of the trials would involve Mubarek Ali, Ahdel Ali, Sultan, Choudry, Hussain, and Yunis.

Another would involve Ahmed and Khan and a third trial would feature Rouf and Yunis.

Judge Robin Onions told the court that the decision on where the new trials would be held and who the presiding judge would be did not rest with him.

He said the decision would be made at the High Court led by Mrs Justice Macur.

But Judge Onions said that finding a venue for the trials, which he had been told could last between 12 and 14 weeks, would prove difficult.

Several of the defence lawyers expressed a wish that Judge Onions continued as the presiding judge but he stressed this was out of his hands.

He adjourned the case until October 14 at Shrewsbury Crown Court when he said he hoped more would be known about the dates and venues for the trials.