?‘My dad is your father’ – woman tells her children in death bed confession

A man has been jailed for four -and – a – half years after admitting fathering his daughter ’ s three children .Ashraf Khan was called a “ wicked ” man by the judge after his illicit children fought for justice for their mother , whose secret was only revealed when she spoke out on her deathbed .

Khan , 81 , was arrested after the woman’ s husband , who had DNA tests to confirm the children ’ s parentage , reported the matter to West Yorkshire Police in 2012 .

Prosecutor Abigail Langford told the court the complainant was born in Pakistan in the 1960 s , one of Khan ’ s six children .

She married her husband there in the early 1980 s , before moving to Bradford , West Yorkshire , to join him and her father .

She went on to give birth to three children in that decade before passing away .

Ms Langford said : “ It was on her deathbed she told her husband the defendant was in fact the father of her three children . ”

The man did not report the matter to police straightaway , Ms Langford explained: “ He wished to continue to act as a father and care for the children he had brought up as his own . ”

When the matters were reported to police in 2012 , Khan was back in Pakistan and did not return to the UK until 2016 .

When he was interviewed in September of that year , the court heard he “ denied having any sexual relations with his daughter . ”

Ms Langford said a medical report concerning the three children had found various ailments “ directly attributed to their incestual parentage , ” including an inability to feel certain kinds of pain , resulting in injuries such as burns during their childhoods .

In a joint victim impact statement , the children said Khan ’ s offending had caused psychological damage and had impacted on their physical health .

They also paid tribute to their mother’ s “ honourable ” husband for his “ fortitude and selflessness throughout the years . ”

Khan , from Bradford , pleaded guilty to three counts of incest a month ahead of a proposed trial .

His barrister , Nigel Jamieson , said his client suffered from poor health , but accepted a prison sentence would not be unjust .

He said : “ He comes to court today knowing that it must be an immediate custodial sentence . ”

The Recorder of Bradford , Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC , told Khan : “ You are a very dishonourable and wicked gentleman , we all now see . ”

Speaking of how the woman brought Khan ’ s offending to light , the judge said : “ Her deathbed confession , how dreadful that must have been . Unburdening her soul about this awful trauma she had carried with her . ”

He told Khan : “ Those who do this will be regarded as very serious offenders , but in this case , the harm is off the scale .

“ You are of good character , but that is a shallow comment, because you have got away with this for years . ”

Judge Durham Hall said the guidelines for an offence of incest gave a maximum sentence of two years , but added the 18 -month sentences for each three counts would run consecutively , giving a total prison term of 54 months.

Speaking after the case , one of the woman ’ s three children said : “ We would like this case to bring awareness of incest being committed , and for other people who may have experienced something similar to come forward so that other offenders who have committed similar crimes can be tried through the courts . ”

They also highlighted extracts from their victim impact statement, which read : “ The only one who was there for us was a man of no blood relation who brought us up as if we were his own children .

“ The significant choice and sacrifice he made, we will never be able to thank him enough .

“ It takes a special man to be a dad , as anyone can be a father . He is one of a kind and we will never be able to repay him for what he has done for us .

“ The man pleading guilty was life -changing for us . He had portrayed a clean- cut image for many years , but secrets cannot be hidden and lies eventually catch up with you .

“ The psychological and mental damage he has done is significant to so many lives , especially to our lives .

“ It has been a long journey from discovering the horrific acts he committed to his daughter to reporting the matter to the police .

“ With the help and support of the fantastic police force and the CPS , today , after many , many years since our mother passed away, we have finally got justice for our mum . ”

( Independent )

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