An ex-Labour mayor has been jailed after she helped her adult son conceal evidence of him raping a 15-year-old girl.
Naheed Ejaz, 61, was sentenced to three years in prison at Winchester Crown Court for perverting the course of justice.
The former town mayor for Bracknell Forest in Berkshire refused to allow officers into her home for more than a minute and a half while speaking Urdu to her son, Diwan Khan, 41, to allow him to hide his phone.
During a six-day trial, prosecutor Ed Wylde said Ejaz and Khan used the word "big bell" to refer to his phone.
Ejaz "chose to protect" her son, despite knowing his victim was an underage girl, Ejaz was told in court.
The judge added that there was a "real risk" Khan could have "avoided prosecution for the rape of an unconscious child".
She served as mayor between 2023 and 2024 and stepped down as councillor in September 2024.
Khan acted as mayor's consort while his mother was in office.
Naheed Ejaz communicated with her son in Urdu to avoid police suspicion | FACEBOOKHe admitted to perverting the course of justice in relation to hiding his phone
For the rape was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an extended licence period of five years upon release.
Khan raped the teenager after she "blacked out" from MDMA he put in vodka for her to drink.
The girl woke up in the backseat of Khan's car without any clothes on and could not remember what happened.
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Naheed Ejaz was sentenced for three years for perverting the course of justice
|HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT CONSTABULARY
Khan then showed a video he filmed of him raping, choking, and slapping the girl in the face, the court heard.
He threatened the girl after the attack, telling her he would "slit her throat" if she told anyone, and that she "belonged" to him.
He also threatened to show the video to the girl's mother is she said anything about the accident.
The court heard how the young girl failed her GCSEs and attempted to kill herself following the rape.
Diwan Khan was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an extended licence period of five years
|HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT CONSTABULARY
Sentencing Ejaz, Judge Rufus Taylor said: "You, Naheed Ejaz, may not have known initially why he wanted you to hide [the phone], but your son told you in Urdu, 'Some motherf***er girl has lied about her age to me' and you chose to protect him."
Judge Taylor accepted Ejaz made a spontaneous decision and noted a character witness who had described her as an "advocate for women's rights".
Bracknell Forest Council's current Labour leader Helen Purnell thanked the victim for her courage in speaking out and said it was "right" that both Ejaz and Khan were behind bars.
She added: "Abuse against women and girls has no place in Bracknell Forest. I have put forward amendments to our domestic violence strategy to make sure more people in public roles are trained to intervene when they see unacceptable behaviours towards women in public.
Bracknell Forest Council has now launched an investigation into how the mother-son pair were given a taxi licence
|WIKIMEDIA
"I have also launched an investigation into how Ejaz and Kahn were given taxi licenses, so that the public can have the full answers it deserves."
In a victim impact statement to the court, the young girl said: "My mental health has been all over the place due to flashbacks, not being able to sleep.
"In June 2025 I tried to commit suicide and ended up in hospital. I just wanted to end my life so the pain would go away."
Khan will serve eight years in prison before a parole board can consider his release.
He was also given a three-year concurrent sentence for perverting the course of justice, and is sexual harm prevention order of 20 years, and an indefinite restraining order against the girl.
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