Yorkshire Conservative MP accused in sex case ‘lifted teenager’s kilt at party’ - jury told

Imran Ahmad Khan, 48, who was elected as MP for Wakefield in West Yorkshire in 2019, was at a party at a house in Staffordshire in January 2008 at the time of the alleged incidents, a jury was told.

Prosecutor Sean Larkin QC said an 18-year-old man was at the party wearing a kilt when Khan asked him if he was wearing the garment like “a true Scotsman”.

“Khan then lifted up the kilt with both hands and lunged at him so that he thought he was going to grab him,” Mr Larkin said.

The teenager pushed down his kilt and said that although he had experience of others trying to lift it, the incident “felt very different”, the court heard.

The court heard that Khan assaulted a 15-year-old who pushed him away.

Mr Larkin said Khan "touched his legs, reaching for, or actually touching, his groin. We suggest either way it was sexual assault.

“He pushed him away but he kept going and when it would not stop he fled.”

The court heard that the complainant, who cannot be identified because he is the alleged victim of a sexual offence, was “distraught” when he reached his parents.

Police were called to the house and the boy reported the incident, telling officers Khan had asked him to “show me some porn” and told him he was a “good-looking boy”, the jury was told.

The teenager did not want to take it any further and the allegation was not pursued at the time, but the complainant went back to police when he found out Khan was standing as an MP, the prosecutor said.

Khan, from Wakefield, helped Prime Minister Boris Johnson win a large Commons majority in 2019 by taking the constituency in the so-called “red wall” that had formed Labour’s heartlands in the Midlands and northern England.

Mr Larkin said Khan was not interviewed at the police station because of the pandemic but was sent a list of questions.

“In summary, he denied any sexual assault had taken place,” said the prosecutor.

Khan said the boy had asked him about “sexuality” before he “became distressed and left”, and that the only time he had touched him was on his elbow.

The MP sat behind his barrister Gudrun Young QC in court, rather than the dock, as High Court judge Mr Justice Baker explained the microphones were not working.

During jury selection, the judge asked potential panel members: “Do any of you have sufficiently strong political views that you would be unable to try the case,” and if they, or any members of their close family, were members of a political party.

Khan, who is on unconditional bail, denies a single count of sexual assault, with the allegation being he intentionally touched the complainant and the touching was sexual when the complainant did not consent and Khan did not reasonably believe he consented.

The trial continues.

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