Nine men in court over historical child sexual exploitation offences

Image source, Athena Picture Agency Image caption, Row one L-R: Kevin Lawrence, Aminur Rahman Chowdhury, Shakeel Babur, Syed Mohammed Ashan Taqvi. Row two L-R: Mohammed Ramzan, Sheikh Mohammed Tahir Ullah, Murad Ali, Mohammed Sheikh Abdul Hannan. Shafaq Mohammed appeared in court via videolink. By Stephen Fairclough BBC Wales Published 11 minutes ago Nine men have appeared in court charged with a total of 41 historical sexual offences, relating to eight victims who were children at the time. The men, aged between 54 and 76, were arrested in Newport, Swansea, London, Birmingham, Lancashire, Edinburgh and the Argyll and Bute area of Scotland earlier in July. Gwent Police initiated Operation Oak after several women reported the abuse, which took place in south Wales between 1985 and 1996. Appearing at Newport Magistrates Court, the defendants were told most charges were so serious that the cases would be transferred to Crown court. The men, who are all British citizens, were granted bail. They will appear at Cardiff Crown Court on 21 August. Operation Oak has been described by the force as a "complex and long-running investigation into group-based child sexual exploitation in south Wales". Many of the charges relate to the rape of children. No pleas were entered during the short hearings at Newport Magistrates Court on Friday. The defendants spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and addresses. One appeared via video-link. Image source, Athena Picture Agency Image caption, L-R: Kevin Lawrence, Aminur Rahman Chowdhury, Shakeel Babur and Syed Mohammed Ashan Taqvi all appeared in court on Friday Shafaq Mohammed, 58, of Birmingham, is charged with four counts of rape of a female under 16, three counts of rape of a female aged 16 years or over, two counts of aiding and abetting the rape of a female under 16, causing the prostitution of a girl under 16, and causing the prostitution of a woman Syed Mohammad Ashan Taqvi, 65, of Newport, is charged with three counts of rape of a female under 16. Mohammed Sheikh Abdul Hannan, 54, of Edinburgh, is charged with two counts of rape of a female aged 16 years or over, one count of indecent assault on a woman over 16 years of age, three counts of aiding and abetting the rape of a female under 16 years of age or over and two counts of conspiring to rape a woman aged 16 years or over. Image source, Athena Picture Agency Image caption, L-R: Mohammed Ramzan, Sheikh Mohammed Tahir Ullah, Murad Ali, Mohammed Sheikh Abdul Hannan Kevin Lawrence, 54, of Dunoon, is charged with two counts of conspiring to rape a woman aged 16 years or over, and causing the prostitution of a woman. Sheikh Mohammed Tahir Ullah, 73, of Newport, is charged with one count of rape of a female aged 16 years or over, and one count of rape of a female under 16. Aminur Rahman Chowdhury, 58, of Tottenham, is charged with one count of rape of a female aged 16 years or over. Shakeel Babur, 58, of Nelson, Lancashire, is charged with four counts