Paedophile former MP released from prison after serving just half his sentence

An ex-Tory MP has been released from jail after serving half of his sentence having been convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy.

Imran Ahmad Khan, a former MP for Wakefield, was put behind bars for 18 months in May last year after being found guilty of groping a 15-year-old boy following a party in 2008.

He is now being released on probation.

Khan’s success in Wakefield in the 2019 general election contributed to the Conservative Party taking the former red wall from Labour.

After Khan’s imprisonment, Sir Keir Starmer’s party won the constituency back in a by-election.

Prisoners with a fixed-term sentence are normally released after serving half of their time.

Those with sentences of more than 12 months, including Khan, are released on probation.

Despite Khan appealing against his sentence and conviction, the rulings were upheld.

Imran Ahmad Khan has always maintained his innocence
Dominic Lipinski

The disgraced Wakefield MP reportedly left HMP Brixton in south London on Tuesday morning and was met by friends who helped him carry his belongings to a car before he was driven away.

Pictures published by the Wakefield Express appeared to show Khan with long hair and a beard after serving nine months of his sentence behind bars.

He has always maintained his innocence.

Khan was under investigation by police for almost the whole time he was an MP, the Times revealed in November.

He was stripped of the Conservative whip in 2021 after charges emerged but he had not been present on the parliamentary estate for a prolonged duration of time before then.

After he was jailed, the bill for removals from his London flat, repairs and a “deep clean” to his constituency office were footed by the taxpayer.

Passing sentence last May, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said: “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.

The ex-Tory MP's resignation prompted a by-election in Wakefield, which saw Labour reclaim the seat
James Manning

“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.”

His court case heard that he displayed a “significant degree of brutality” in the lead-up to the assault at a house in Staffordshire, as he dragged his victim upstairs and threw him on to a bed, forcing the then teenager to drink gin and tonic and asking him to watch pornography.

The court heard the victim was “inconsolable” when he returned to his parents following the attack.

While a police report was made at the time, the boy, who cannot be identified, took no further action as he did not want to make a formal complaint.

Khan claimed he only touched the teenager’s elbow when he “became extremely upset” following a conversation about his confused sexuality.