Disgraced MP Imran Ahmad Khan to be paid full month’s salary after sexual assault conviction
Imran Ahmad Khan, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy (UK Parliament)
Imran Ahmad Khan will stand down as an MP almost three weeks after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Khan was convicted after Southwark Crown Court heard that he forced a teenager to drink alcohol at a house party, before dragging him upstairs and asking him to watch pornography before assaulting him.
The ruling was handed down on 11 April, and on 14 April Khan announced that he would stand down as an MP – he had already been expelled from the Tory party.
However, Khan did not actually submit his resignation until Monday (25 April), effective from Saturday 30 April.
This means that he will be paid his full salary for April, according to The Guardian. The basic annual salary for an MP as of 1 April is £84,144.
Announcing his intention to step down, Khan stated that he will be appealing the guilty verdict, but is resigning as due to “long delays in the legal process” his constituents have not had “visible parliamentary representation” for a year.
“I am now able to focus entirely on clearing my name,” he said. “As I intend for this to be my only statement, I would like to apologise to my family and community for the humiliation this has caused them.”
— Imran Ahmad Khan (@imranahmadkhan) April 14, 2022
Khan was found guilty at trial after five hours of deliberations.
The complainant, now aged 29 and who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the attack left him “scared, vulnerable, numb, shocked and surprised”.
The victim said he contacted the Conservative Party back in 2019 to tell them of the historic assault after finding out Imran Ahmad Khan would be standing in the general election. He then contacted the police after Khan was elected as an MP.
At the time of the assault, the police were allegedly called, but the complainant did not want to pursue the case.
Another witness described being sexually assaulted at a party in Pakistan in 2010, alleging that he woke up to find Khan performing a sex act on him.
Khan’s resignation from the House of Commons will lead to a by-election in Wakefield; the Yorkshire seat switched to the Conservatives at the 2019 general election after being held by Labour since the 1930s.
