Rape trial may not be held in city after MP's online posts

PUBLICITY COULD FORCE MOVE TO ANOTHER COURT

- By MARTIN NAYLOR

A PROVISIONAL trial date has been set for a 27-year-old man accused of raping a woman in a park.

Dressed in a black, patterned, T-shirt, Sheraz Malik spoke only to confirm his name through a Pashto interpreter at the short hearing at Nottingham Crown Court.

He was told he will face trial on January 12 next year, with a five-day time estimate - but due to the large amount of publicity the case has already received, including social media posts made by Reform MP for Ashfield Lee Anderson, it may not take place in Nottingham.

Defence barrister Laura Hocknell asked for the charges not to be put to her client.

She said: "This is a case which has attracted some publicity including on social media from a Member of Parliament no less and it may be that I will apply to move it to another court area."