Judge stops case against Lord Ahmed as trial collapses

LONDON: The Sheffield Crown Court has ruled that sex allegations trial against Lord Nazir Ahmed cannot go ahead anymore due to “disgraceful” actions of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and a systematic failure that has not only caused the trial to collapse but also put the three defendants at disadvantage over sexual assaults allegations dating back more than half a century.

On February 26 2021, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, sitting at the Sheffield Crown Court, discharged the jury in the trial of former Labour peer Lord Nazir but there was a reporting ban until the judgment was made public. Judge Jeremy Richardson QC said prosecutors had behaved in a disgraceful way and had “sabotaged this trial and caused it to abort” as the process of disclosures was “disgraceful”.

The judge said he was “shocked and appalled” at how evidence was disclosed to Lord Nazir knowing that the case was antique – over 50 years old – and how it undermined the whole justice process.

The judge remarked the allegations in this case are extremely old and although it was his duty to ensure the trial must be fair and integrity must not be undermined. The judge said that the situation changed irredeemably as facts emerged and he had decided to impose a permanent stay although the claimants are “likely to be annoyed but a permanent stay must be imposed”.

Reading out the judgment in full, the judge said the prosecution says this is a strong case against Lord Nazir and his brothers but “in my view it is not”. The fact that I harbour misgivings is neither here nor there, said the judge adding he was responsible for the trial and “I must ensure it is fair and that the integrity of the administration of justice is not be undermined by the trial process”.

The judge said he was “extremely concerned by the police failure to follow reasonable lines of enquiry”. He said it took the prosecution 13 months to disclose evidence to Lord Nazir and his brothers and there were several other failures. He said if he listened to the request of the prosecution to order a retrial then “the complainants may feel cheated and the public may demand that justice is done”. On the merits of the actual case, the judge said that in his view it was not a strong case, the allegations were vague and he was not sure if all counts would have survived.

The judge said the “disclosure regime is not merely a lamentable failure but disgraceful and has caused the trial to collapse” and “It is disgraceful to disclose at such a late stage as this case is exceptional, so exceptional a case” that he was “nothing short of appalled”.

He said the disclosure of an incendiary device — late disclosure — has blown the case open. He said it is irremediably changed and degraded and “I’m putting an end to the agony of it continuing”.

Lord Nazir was on trial along with his two brothers Mohammed Farouq and Mohammed Tariq in relation to charges of serious sexual acts, made by a brother and sister who claimed these offences took place over 50 years ago.

Lord Nazir said he is seeking legal advice over “malicious prosecution”. The CPS said it would appeal the decision at the Court of Appeal.