Eight men have been formally charged in connection with a long-running investigation into a grooming gang accused of child sexual abuse and rape across multiple locations in the United Kingdom. The charges relate to alleged offences that took place between the 1980s and 1990s.
Authorities in Gwent, South Wales, arrested the men on Tuesday. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that collectively, the eight individuals face 34 charges, including 17 counts of rape.
The accused, whose ages range from 54 to 73, are linked to alleged criminal activities in several areas, including Newport, Swansea, London, Birmingham, Lancashire, Edinburgh, and the Argyll and Bute region of Scotland.
Among those charged is Shafaq Mohammed, 58, from Birmingham, who faces 11 counts of child sexual abuse, including four charges of rape involving a female under 16 and an additional charge related to causing the prostitution of a girl under 16. Syed Mohammad Ashan Taqvi, 65, from Newport, has been charged with three counts of rape involving a female under 16. Mohammed Sheikh Abdul Hannan, 54, from Edinburgh, faces eight charges of child sexual abuse, including two counts of rape.
Kevin Lawrence, 54, from Dunoon, has been charged with three offences, including two counts of conspiring to rape a woman aged 16 or over. Sheikh Mohammed Tahir Ullah, 73, also from Newport, is charged with the rape of a female aged 16 or over and one count of rape of a female under 16.
Aminat Rahman Chowdhury, 58, from Tottenham in north London, faces two charges of rape, one involving a female aged 16 or over and the other involving a female under 16. Shakeel Babur, 58, from Lancashire, has been charged with four counts of indecent assault on a girl under 16, while Murad Ali, 57, from Swansea, faces two counts of rape involving a female under 16.
The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have emphasized the importance of these charges being brought forward following detailed work to uncover historical abuse. Court proceedings are expected to follow in due course.