UK: Muslim cleric assaulted boys at Stoke on Trent mosque

Mohammed Hanif Khan

A Muslim cleric has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two boys at a mosque in Stoke-on-Trent.

Mohammed Hanif Khan, 42, had denied charges of rape, attempted rape and sexual activity with a child.

A jury at Nottingham Crown Court found Khan, of Owler Lane, Sheffield, guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual activity with a child.

The offences took place at the mosque on Capper Street between July and October 2009.

Khan has been remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.

Religious education

The jury could not reach verdicts on other charges against the imam and were discharged from doing so.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Khan was imam of the mosque, where he led prayers and delivered religious education lessons to boys at evening classes.

Prosecutor Tariq Bin Shakoor had told the court one of the boys claimed in police interviews that he was singled out by Khan after evening prayer on several occasions.

He was assaulted in areas of the mosque not covered by CCTV, Mr Shakoor said.

The other boy was assaulted when he was an overnight guest at Khan's house, the jury heard.

In his defence, Khan said he had a close relationship with the boys because he tried to help them with their unruly behaviour.

'Exploited trust'

His lawyer, Robert Woodcock QC, asked him who had invited him to get involved in the families' business and he said it was mainly the boys' mothers.

Don Knapper, district crown prosecutor, said it was a case of abuse of young boys by a man who they and their families trusted.

"Khan was in a position of trust and exploited the access he was afforded as their teacher to abuse the boys," he said,

After the verdict, Det Insp Tim Martin from Staffordshire Police said it had been a thorough inquiry, and he realised the case had been cause for some "understandable concern" in the community.

There are other links to this story at BBC News.

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London Court of Appeal: Diocese MUST compensate boys it abused

The Diocese of Middlesbrough has been refused the right to appeal against a court ruling that found it responsible for an £8 million compensation claim by victims of child sexual abuse.

The Court of Appeal in London rejected the diocese’s application to appeal against what is believed to be the largest award to abuse victims in English history.

The diocese was found liable in October for the claims of 158 former pupils who were abused at St William’s Community Home, in Market Weighton, near York, between 1960 and 1992.

Judges ruled that the De La Salle Christian Brothers, which staffed the home, had no legal responsibility, leaving the Catholic Child Welfare Society of the diocese liable for the compensation claim.

One of the victims, Graham Baverstock of Catterick, North Yorkshire, said he was pleased with the ruling.

“The Church has tried to evade their responsibility to the victims all along and they now need to say sorry,” he said. “We have been campaigning for years for them to apologise.”

Mr Baverstock, 52, was 14 when he first was sent to the home, which provided residential care and education for boys with emotional and behavioural problems, and spent more than a year there. He said he was systematically abused in 1973 and 1974 and subsequently attempted suicide.

Christian Brother James Carragher, now 74, who was principal at the home for more than 20 years, began serving a 14-year prison sentence in 2004 for a long list of sex crimes against students.

Attorney David Greenwood, who is representing the victims, said he hoped the Middlesbrough diocese would work to reach compensation settlements with each abuse survivor.

Following the Court of Appeal decision, the only option remaining for the diocese is to appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

“Our lawyers are considering the matter,” a diocesan spokesman said.

We found this story in the Catholic Herald

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