Former Labour peer Nazir Ahmed was found guilty on Wednesday of attempting to rape a young girl and sexually assaulting a boy under 11 in the 1970s according to several media reports.

The 64-year-old former Lord from Rotherham was found guilty of the crimes, which happened nearly 50 years ago when he was 16 or 17. Both the victims who made the charges are reported to be his first cousins.

He denies the charges.

According to the tabloid Daily Mail, the jury was played a recording of a telephone call between the two complainants, made by the woman after she went to the police in 2016.

The paper reported that prosecutor Tom Little QC told the jury that the call was prompted by the man contacting the woman by email saying: 'I have evidence against that paedophile.'

Ahmed resigned from the House of Lords in November 2020 after a conduct committee report recommended his expulsion. He resigned before action could be taken against him. The report had found he sexually assaulted a vulnerable woman who sought his help.

Nazir also denied those charges.

On Wednesday his lawyers said they plan to appeal because the "verdicts have gone completely against the evidence presented before the jury during the trial at the Sheffield Crown Court."

The judge has not yet determined sentencing.

Many social media users took to Twitter to praise the decision.=, one of them the Dutch politician known for his Islamophobic stance.

However, there was some disbelief too with one user saying the charges were politically motivated.

Many made a point of linking Nazir to Pakistan.

And some went further to make links between Nazir and prime minister Imran Khan, for the former peer was an avid supporter of the PTI leader.

Nazir's last tweet was on Wednesday and it was a link to an article about the abuses taking place in Kashmir, a cause he has been a passionate advocate of for the last 40 years.