A Conservative MP is to stand trial charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008.
Imran Ahmad Khan, MP for Wakefield in West Yorkshire, denies sexually touching the teenager in Staffordshire.
The 47-year-old appeared before Westminster magistrates via video-link on Thursday. Reporting restrictions on the case were lifted on Friday.
His solicitor said the allegation against the MP, who was elected in 2019, would be “vigorously defended”.
During Thursday’s hearing Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said the case was not suitable for trial in the magistrates’ court and sent the case to the Old Bailey.
Granting Mr Ahmad Khan unconditional bail, he said his next court appearance would be on 15 July.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Mr Ahmad Khan said he denied the accusation “in the strongest terms”.
Following the hearing a spokesperson for the Conservative Party said: “Imran Ahmad Khan has had the whip suspended. As there is an ongoing court case we will not be commenting further.”
Suspending the whip in Parliament means he will sit as an independent, but doesn’t mean he has been expelled from the party.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said it had made the decision to charge Mr Ahmad Khan “after reviewing a file of evidence from Staffordshire Police”.
Source: bbc.co.uk
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