David Vance SubstackRead More
Let’s take a few minutes to consider Crown Court Judge Amjad Nawaz’s alarming pattern of handing out suspended sentences to serious sexual offenders. This should concern all of us if we are to have any confidence in the Judiciary at this point,
Between 2014 to 2026 Nawaz has consistently spared jail time for crimes involving child sexual abuse images and assaults, often citing age, “good character,” or rehabilitation prospects. This repeated soft-touch approach seems to prioritise offender mitigation over the trauma of the victims. All this has the effect of further undermining public trust in the judiciary and signalling weak consequences for the most egregious predatory behaviour.
The most recent case this year involves 70-year-old migrant Chaudhry Zaman. It happened in Slough where he forcibly held a 12-year-old girl’s hand, kissed her on her way home from school, and instructed her to “cover her head.” The terrified victim became socially isolated after reporting the assault. Despite CCTV evidence and the clear sexual motivation, Nawaz imposed only a nine-month sentence suspended for 18 months, 80 hours unpaid work, a five-year restraining order, and 10 years on the Sex Offenders Register. He described the risk as “manageable in the community,” ignoring the profound anxiety inflicted on the child.
In 2016, Nawaz showed similar mercy to 69-year-old imam Mohammed Habibullah, convicted of sexually assaulting a vulnerable woman. The breach of trust warranted custody, yet Nawaz suspended a six-month term for 18 months, praising the imam’s long community service and claiming he had merely “let his community down.”
Lawrence Fisk’s 2023 case involved possessing indecent images of children as young as four, including extreme bestiality and penetrative acts. Nawaz expressed disbelief at the depravity but suspended a 13-month sentence for 18 months, opting for community orders over prison.
In 2025, 20-year-old Tyler Leonard admitted to over 500 indecent images, actively seeking and exchanging material since age 14. Nawaz suspended a 20-month sentence for two years, emphasising Leonard’s youth and potential for reform despite the deliberate, prolonged offending.
Late 2022 saw 70-year-old pensioner Fenemore convicted over 1,000 images, including extreme rape of babies. Nawaz voiced “disgust” but suspended a 16-month term for two years.
This is a decade-long pattern and it raises grave concerns about systemic bias and failure to safeguard the vulnerable! We see clear evidence of victims suffering lifelong scars while offenders walk free. Nawaz SHOULD be suspended from his position and a Judicial Conduct Investigations probe launched into him.
Surely our Judiciary must be seen to prioritise protecting victims over spurious compassion for predators?
