16 mostly Asian-origin men including a police constable have appeared in Bradford Magistrates’ Court on charges related to drugs and child sexual exploitation in Halifax, England.

The charges against Amjad Ditta, who as a Positive Action Co-ordinator had been responsible for increasing police diversity, and the other accused men were deemed “too serious” for the Magistrates’ Court by District Judge Charlotte Holland, who has referred them to the higher Crown Court.

The reported charges the men are facing are as follows:

35-year-old Amjad Ditta, accused of sexual touching 36-year-old Khalifa Mughal, accused of six counts of rape, supply of a class C drug, supply of a class A drug, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice 46-year-old Mahtab Islam, 46, accused of five counts of rape, three counts of supplying a class A drug, three counts of supplying a class C drug, two counts of sexual assault, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice 39-year-old Nadeem Nassir, accused of rape, supply of a class C drug, making threats to kill 40-year-old Shahzad Nowaz, accused of rape, supply of a class C drug, making threats to kill 34-year-old Nadeem Adalat, accused of four counts of rape, four counts of supplying a class C drug 30-year-old Vaqaas Abbas, accused of three counts of rape, three counts of supplying a class C drug 33-year-old Waseem Adalat, accused of two counts of rape, trafficking, supplying a class C drug 33-year-old Asad Mahmood, 33, accused of two counts of rape, trafficking 45-year-old Christopher Eastwood, accused of two counts of rape, two counts of supplying a class C drug 44-year-old Shazad Nazir, accused of two counts of rape, two counts of supplying a class C drug 34-year-old Younis Mohammed, accused of rape, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent 36-year-old Sohail Zafar, accused of rape, supplying a class C drug 32-year-old Ishtiaq Latif, 32, accused of sexual activity with a child 43-year-old Sajid Adalat, accused of one count of with rape 34-year-old Mohammed Rizwan Iqbal, accused of one count of rape

The men will appear before Bradford Crown Court on January 20th.

Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery