Imran Ahmad Khan denied sexual assault and claimed he only touched the Catholic teenager’s elbow. (PTI)
London:
A Pakistani-origin Conservative Party former member of Parliament from northern England, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old at a house over 13 years ago, has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by a court in London on Monday.
Imran Ahmad Khan, now an ex-MP for Wakefield in West Yorkshire, was convicted last month after a week-long jury trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. Justice Jeremy Baker said the victim had been “profoundly psychologically affected” by Khan’s actions while handing down the sentence.
“The only regret you feel is towards yourself for having found yourself in the predicament you face as a result of your actions some 14 years ago,” the judge said.
However, he went on to say that he did not consider Khan’s offence to be “sufficiently severe enough to place the assault into the most severe category”.
Earlier this month, Khan formally lodged an appeal against his conviction.
The court was told during the trial in April that Khan forced the boy to drink gin at a party in Staffordshire in 2008 before dragging him upstairs, pushing him onto a bed and then asking him to watch pornography before the attack.
The 48-year-old MP, who denied the allegations, was suspended by the Conservative Party when they emerged. He went on to resign and a by-election is due to be held on June 23 to elect a new MP for Khan’s former constituency.
The complainant, now 29, said that the attack had left him “scared and shocked”. The man, who cannot be named, contacted the Conservative Party in 2019 when Khan was standing in the General Election and then went on to contact the police after Khan was elected to Parliament.
Khan, who is gay, denied sexual assault and claimed he only touched the Catholic teenager’s elbow when he “became extremely upset” after a conversation about his confused sexuality. Then 34, the politician said he was trying to be “kind” and “helpful” but the teenager became upset and “bolted” when the topic of pornography was raised.
In mitigation, Khan’s lawyer said the former MP had gone from “high public office” to being “utterly and completely disgraced, with his life and career in ruins, shamed and humiliated at every turn”.
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