British Politician Jailed For Sex Assault On Teenage Boy

Imran Ahmad Khan, British politician, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Following his conviction last month, the former Conservative MP was expelled from the Conservative Party and resigned, triggering a by-election in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

The jury heard how he forced the then-teenager to drink gin and tonic and watch pornography before the January 2008 attack at a house in Staffordshire following a party.

The victim, now 29, said he was’scared, vulnerable, numb, shocked, and surprised’ when Khan, then 34, touched his feet and legs, coming within a ‘hair’s breadth’ of his privates as he went to sleep in a top-bunk bed.

Mr Justice Baker sentenced Khan to 18 months in prison today at Southwark Crown Court after he denied sexual assault.

The judge stated that he had shown no remorse, adding, ‘The only regret you feel is towards yourself for having found yourself in the situation you find yourself in as a result of your actions some 14 years ago.’

Mr. Justice Baker stated that he had shown a “significant degree of brutality” in the lead-up to the assault, in which he dragged his victim upstairs and threw him on a bed.

‘I am satisfied that the complainant was particularly vulnerable, because he was not only 15 years old at the time of the offence, but I accept his mother’s description of him as not very worldly and very young for his age,’ he said.

‘Although you may have convinced yourself over the years that you had gotten away with committing this crime, I am sure you were aware from the start that there would be a day of reckoning.’

Khan has stated that he will appeal his conviction, and his lawyer, Gudrun Young QC, stated today, ‘Mr Khan denies this offence and maintains today that he is not guilty of it.’

In court, his victim stated that he had “suicidal thoughts” and had difficulties in his relationship and at work.

‘Because of this assault, I found being touched in any way difficult throughout my teenage years,’ he explained.

‘My mental health has rapidly deteriorated since deciding to come forward and having to constantly relive an event I tried to bury for so long,’ he continued.

‘I’ve struggled with the guilt of dragging my family back into a horrible ordeal they’d rather forget, as well as watching them struggle with their own guilt for allowing that man into the house.’

The victim was ‘inconsolable’ when he ran to his parents after the attack, according to the court.

At the time, a police report was filed, but no further action was taken because the boy refused to file a formal complaint.

However, when he learned Khan would be running in the general election in December 2019, he told jurors that “it all came flooding back.”

When he made the allegation to the Tory press office days before Khan won the Wakefield seat, he said he was not ‘taken very seriously,’ and he went to police after Khan helped Prime Minister Boris Johnson win a large Commons majority.

Khan, who is gay and Muslim, claimed he only touched the Catholic adolescent’s elbow after a conversation about his confused sexuality.

He claimed he was trying to be ‘kind’ and ‘helpful,’ but when the subject of pornography was brought up, the boy became upset and ‘bolted.’

After about five hours of deliberation, a jury found Khan guilty of a single count of sexual assault.