MP ON TRIAL: Accused Wakefield MP labels groping claim as "sheer fantasy"

It is alleged the MP touched the 15-year-old while the youngster lay in his top bunkbed following a house party in Staffordshire in January 2008.

He is on trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of sexual assault.

Khan had been staying in the same room as the boy that night, and moments after the lights were turned out, is accused of touching the teenager's feet before moving his hand up his leg and towards his groin, before the scared teenager fled the room.

Giving evidence this morning, he said the events of that night had been "twisted", and denied any such contact took place.

He admitted talking with the boy about sexuality earlier in the evening after he learned that Khan was homosexual.

When Khan went to bed that night after the party, he said the teenager was already in his bunk and wanted to continue the conversation.

He told the court: "I went up to the room, the lights were off.

"He was sat up in bed and started to talking to me. He was very keen to carry on the conversation.

"I was pretty desperate to go to sleep. It had been a long day.

"I told him he did not need to worry and that everything would sort itself out in the fullness of time.

"He was anxious, he seemed a little distressed. He seemed troubled, there seemed to be a lot of bottled up."

However, Khan admits that he did mention asking the boy if he had watched pornography before, but claims it was an innocent question, and said it would help identify where the boy's sexual attractions would lie.

Khan said: "It had an immediate effect on him, he became very tearful and very upset and jumped out of his bed and was heading for the door.

"That's the only time I touched him, I placed my hand on either his elbow or arm to placate him. It was momentary.

"There was something in that comment about pornography that triggered that reaction and he bolted out.

"I had no desire to watch porn with him."

When quizzed by his defence barrister, Ms Gudrun Young QC, about other details given in evidence by the alleged victim, including Khan dragging him to his bedroom, playfighting with him and drinking in his bedroom, he denied this.

Becoming visibly upset, he said: "I listened to this in astonishment. I don't know where he is getting that stuff.

"That entire sequence of steps is sheer fantasy. It's deeply upsetting."

Khan said he simply went to bed after the boy ran out of the room and "slept soundly", but was asked to leave the next morning which he described as being "odd".

He said he received a phone call a few days later from a police officer in regard to a common assault, and admitted he was angry saying the boy had "twisted it into something that merited calling the police".

He added: "There had been no assault, physically or otherwise.

"I was angry at him (the teenager). I could not understand why he twisted this the way he had.

"I put it down to him being a very troubled young man."

Khan had earlier described the party as having a "warm and welcoming atmosphere" and had been talking with all members of the family.

Asked if either he or the boy had instigated the topic of sexuality during their earlier conversation, he said "Other than mentioning I had a boyfriend, it was very much him. He was fixed on it and very keen to talk about it.

"I was trying to be kind and helpful to a young man who seemed to want to talk about these things."

He admitted drinking but said: "I was not drunk, nobody was. It was not that sort of party."

He also denied the incident involving the boy's brother, where it was alleged that Khan asked him if he was a "real Scotsman" by trying to lift up a kilt he was wearing, alluding to him wearing no underwear.

The police had been called the day after the party, but the boy did not want to pursue the matter because of his embarrassment. It was not until 2019, when Khan was standing for election in Wakefield, that the alleged victim went back to the police.

Asked about his thoughts on being contacted years later about the allegation, Khan said he was "utterly bewildered" and that his life has "immediately collapsed" as a result.

He said: "There is no truth whatsoever in these allegations.

"I'm at a complete loss to understand why they have been made, how they have been made and how they have got this far.

"I still can't believe I have to defend myself in the witness box from these allegations that stem from nothing."

The trial continues.