Seven Afghan nationals have been charged with rape and child sexual abuse offences as part of an investigation into group-based child sexual exploitation in Norwich, Norfolk police have said. The men are accused of committing sexual offences between August 2023 and May 2025.
Police said five of the men entered the UK via small boat, one concealed in a lorry, and the seventh attempted to enter clandestinely via Portsmouth ferry port. The charges relate to two alleged victims, who were aged in their early to mid-teens at the time of the alleged offences.
The defendants appeared before Norwich magistrates court on Friday and were remanded in custody until a plea hearing at Norwich crown court on 19 June. Superintendent Craig Miller said: “I know this news will be shocking to our communities. This type of case is very upsetting, and I want people living and working in Norwich, as well as the wider communities of Norfolk, to know that we will do everything possible to protect children from abuse and exploitation.”
The Crown Prosecution Service detailed the charges: Jamil Khalil, 20, faces seven counts of rape, one of human trafficking, and one of conspiracy to commit child sexual abuse. Ahmadin Ahmadzai, 21, is charged with nine counts of rape, one of human trafficking, two of conspiracy to commit child sexual abuse, and one of perverting the course of justice. Qais Kaker, 20, faces four counts of rape, one of human trafficking, two of conspiracy to commit child sexual abuse, and one of perverting the course of justice. Fazal Auryakhel, 20, is charged with one count of rape. Mohammed Farooq Sinwary, 23, faces two counts of rape. Ali Ahamad, 21, is charged with one count of rape and three of human trafficking. Sayed Wahid Daviodzai, 20, faces four counts of rape and one of conspiracy to commit child sexual abuse.
Norfolk police said officers raided seven addresses on Wednesday, six in Norwich and one in Dumbarton, Scotland, leading to seven arrests. The Irish police force, Garda Síochána, arrested an eighth suspect in Ireland on Friday 22 May; legal processes will seek his return to the UK. The force said none of the charged men have lived at asylum hotels in Norfolk and none of the alleged offending occurred there.
The minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, Natalie Fleet, said: “These are hideous cases and the fact that the suspects arrived through illegal routes only underlines their shocking nature.” Jenny Hopkins, chief crown prosecutor for the CPS’s organised child sexual abuse unit, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute seven men with rape and child sexual abuse charges for alleged offending during August 2023 to May 2025 – following a Norfolk police constabulary investigation into organised grooming gang activity in the county.”
