Lord Ahmed: Disgraced peer fails in bid to overturn conviction

Lord Ahmed appeared at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday

A former Labour peer's bid to overturn his conviction for sex abuse against two children in the 1970s has failed.

Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham's appeal attempt was dismissed by three judges on Tuesday.

The Court of Appeal concluded that Ahmed did not have arguable grounds for staging a full appeal.

Ahmed was convicted in 2022 of trying to rape a young girl and sexually assaulting a boy under 11 while he was a teenager in South Yorkshire.

He was jailed for five years and six months after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court found him guilty.

That term was cut to two years and six months by three appeal judges after they concluded trial judge Mr Justice Lavender erred when passing sentence.

Ahmed, pictured at his sentencing in 2022, had challenged his original jail term

Ahmed, who was convicted of two counts of attempted rape and one of sexual assault, has now left prison. He was in court for Tuesday's appeal hearing.

A woman had told jurors Ahmed tried to rape her in the early 1970s, when he was about 16 or 17 but she was much younger.

Ahmed was also found guilty of a serious sexual assault against a boy under 11, also in the early 1970s.

The UK Parliament website says Ahmed has "retired" from the House of Lords.