Four Brierfield men in court over ‘sex exploitation at party house’ (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Four Brierfield men in court over ‘sex exploitation at party house’

9:37am Friday 21st October 2011 in Brierfield By Sam Chadderton, Reporter

FOUR men have appeared in court in connection with alleged sexual exploitation at a ‘party house’ in Brierfield.

Specialist detectives and partner agencies with the Pennine division’s Freedom Team are investigating reports that an address in the town was used as a place where underage vulnerable children were given drink, drugs and then sexually abused.

Police have been investigating the case for 12 months and believe there are up to eight men involved with a group of girls known to each other.

Shiraz Afzal, 25, of Mansfield Crescent, is charged with conspiracy to rape a child.

Omar Mazafer, 21, of Halifax Road, is charged with conspiracy to rape a child.

Mohammed Suleman Farooq, 22, of Berry Street, is charged with conspiracy to rape a child.

The charges relate to two 14-year-old girls.

All three men were remanded in custody by Burnley magistrates until next month to appear at Burnley Crown Court.

A fourth man, Waqas Khalid, 18, of Halifax Road, is charged with witness intimidation.

He was bailed yesterday to appear at Burnley Magistrates Court in December.

All four men were arrested after police carried out a series of pre-planned warrants across Brierfield on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Afzal has previously been charged with causing or inciting a girl aged between 13 and 15 to engage in sexual activity.

Mazafer was previously charged with two counts of Section 39 common assault and another man, Mohammed Imran Amjad, 24, of Halifax Road, Brierfield, was charged with arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and child abduction.

A police spokesman confirmed the charges are part of a large ongoing inquiry into child sexual exploitation.

Comments unavailable on this story for legal reasons.