Imran Ahmad Khan: MP sexually assaulted man after party, trial told

An MP sexually assaulted a man in his sleep after smoking marijuana and drinking whisky, a court has heard.

Imran Ahmad Khan, the Conservative MP for Wakefield, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court, where he denies sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy at a house in Staffordshire in January 2008.

A separate witness alleged the MP sexually assaulted him at a guest house in Pakistan in 2010.

The prosecution said he came forward after hearing of the MP being charged.

Sean Larkin QC told jurors it was a different allegation against Mr Khan, which was not part of the charge he was being tried on.

The alleged victim said he had reported the incident to the British High Commission and the Foreign Office but did not want to go to police in Pakistan because of Mr Khan's "powerful connections" in the military and government.

Jurors were told Mr Khan had been working on a project funded by the Foreign Office at the time of the alleged incident in November 2010.

The man, who was then in his early 20s, said Mr Khan offered him a sleeping pill as they shared a room in a guesthouse in the city of Peshawar.

The witness said he later woke up to find Mr Khan was performing a sex act on him, adding: "I pushed him off and told him to stop."

Jurors heard that on the night of the alleged assault Mr Khan and the man had been at a party where everyone was drinking whisky.

Asked if he had been smoking marijuana, the witness said: "I think generally at these types of events, if it had been there both Imran and I would have had some."

Mr Khan's lawyer, Gudrun Young, suggested her client "did not like marijuana or the smell of it" but the man said: "He has definitely smoked in front of me in the past."

Ms Young suggested the man's perception was affected by the alcohol, cannabis and the sleeping pill and, despite being heterosexual, he had consented to sexual activity with Mr Khan.

"I was not consenting," said the witness.

Mr Khan, 48, who was elected to parliament in 2019, denies a single charge of sexual assault.

The MP claims he only touched the 15-year-old's elbow when he "became extremely upset" after a conversation about his confused sexuality.

The trial continues.

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