Old Bailey trial for men charged with sex crimes

Vikram Singh, 45, Faisal Iqbal, 31, Arshad Jani, 32, Akbari Khan, 35, Taimoor Khan, 28 and Sohail Qamar, 40, all from Aylesbury will start their trial on Monday, the proceedings are expected to take eight weeks.

Jerome Joe, 35, from Buckingham and Asif Hussain, 32, from Milton Keynes also face charges which were brought about after last September’s Operation Articulate raids.

Three other defendants from Hayes, Chesham and Bradford respectively will also appear.

Jurors are being sworn in towards the end of this week, with opening statements expected to be delivered on Monday morning.

Aylesbury defendent Farrukh Bashir had charges of rape against a girl aged 13 to 15, arranging and facilitating the prostitution or involvement in pornography of a child aged 13 to 17, and a charge of conspiracy to rape a girl aged 13 to 15 dropped, and will face no further action.

All of the charges faced by the men relate to allegations made by two victims, who were aged under sixteen when the alleged offences occurred between January 2006 and December 2012.

Vikram Singh, of Cannock Road, Aylesbury is charged with four counts of rape of a girl under the age of 16, three charges of rape of a girl under 13 and one charge of administering a substance with the intention of committing a sexual offence.

Faisal Iqbal of Pixie Road, Aylesbury is charged with conspiracy to rape a girl under 16.

Arshad Jani, 32, of Cousins Drive, Aylesbury is charged with conspiracy to rape a girl aged 13 to 15, engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 15 and rape of a girl aged between 13 and 15.

Akbari Khan, 35 of Mandeville Road, Aylesbury is charged with two counts of rape of a girl aged 13 to 15, a charge of conspiracy to rape a girl aged 13 to 15 and two charges of administering a substance with the intention of committing a sexual offence.

Taimoor Khan, 28, of Highbridge Road, Aylesbury is charged with two counts of raping a girl aged 13 to 15, a charge of conspiracy to rape a girl aged 13 to 15 and administering a substance with the intention of committing a sexual offence.

Sohail Qamar, 40, of St Annes Road, Aylesbury, charged with causing/ inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, raping a girl aged 16 or over and assaulting a person thereby occasioning actual bodily harm.

This newspaper will be at the Old Bailey next week to bring you updates from court.