In mitigation, Ms Young said that since his election to Parliament his life has been in 'freefall', adding: 'At every stage of this process, the investigation, charge, trial, everything he has worked for and achieved in his life has been gradually stripped away from him, ending in this conviction.' His barrister said Khan, who has a degenerative bone disease and is registered disabled, has been 'completely teetotal and celibate for a number of years', and has 'become somewhat of a recluse,' living with and caring for his elderly mother.
Khan has said he will appeal against the conviction while former justice minister Crispin Blunt has repeated his controversial defence of his former colleague, claiming the disgraced politician did not get a 'fair trial' However, Khan was found guilty of a single count of sexual assault by a jury after about five hours of deliberations. He said he was trying to be 'kind' and 'helpful', but the boy became upset, and 'bolted' when the topic of pornography was raised. Khan, who is gay and a Muslim, claimed he only touched the Catholic teenager's elbow when he 'became extremely upset' after a conversation about his confused sexuality. He said he was not 'taken very seriously' when he made the allegation to the Tory press office days before Khan won the Wakefield seat, and went to police after Khan helped Prime Minister Boris Johnson win a large Commons majority. However, he told jurors 'it all came flooding back' when he learned Khan was standing in the December 2019 general election.
Khan was expelled from the Conservative Party and later resigned from the Commons, triggering a by-election in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, after he was convicted following a trial at Southwark Crown Court last monthĪ police report was made at the time, but no further action was taken because the boy did not want to make a formal complaint. Khan has said he will appeal against his conviction, and Gudrun Young QC, defending, said today: 'Mr Khan denies this offence and maintains today he is not guilty of it.' 'Although it may well be, over the years, you had let yourself believe you had got away with having committed this offence, I am sure you were aware from the outset there was a risk there would be a day of reckoning.' 'I am satisfied that the complainant was particularly vulnerable, and not only was he 15 years of age at the date of the offence, but I accept his mother's description that he was not very worldly and very young for his age,' he said. Mr Justice Baker said he had displayed a 'significant degree of brutality' in the lead up to the assault, as he dragged his victim upstairs and threw him on to a bed. Khan showed no emotion as he was taken down to the cells, carrying, among his possessions, a bag from an upmarket men's grooming shop. The 48-year-old arrived at Southwark Crown Court in a black cab today wearing a suit and carrying a shopping bag from soap and skincare brand Dr Harris and Co The judge said he had shown no remorse, adding: '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.' Khan, who denied sexual assault, was jailed for 18 months at Southwark Crown Court today by Mr Justice Baker.
The victim, now 29, said he was left feeling 'scared, vulnerable, numb, shocked and surprised', after 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. The jury heard how he forced the then teenager to drink gin and tonic and asked him to watch pornography, before the attack at a house in Staffordshire following a party in January 2008. Khan, 48, was expelled from the Conservative Party and resigned, triggering a by-election in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, after he was found guilty last month following a trial. Disgraced former Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan has been pictured leaving court today in the back of a prison van after he was jailed for 18 months for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.