Bracknell leader backs ‘brave victim’ after ex-mayor’s rape denial sparks fury
Bracknell’s leader Helen Purnell has said she is ‘shocked and disgusted’ at a video from former mayor Naheed Ejaz saying evidence against her rapist son has been planted.
Last updated 7th May 2026
Bracknell’s leader Helen Purnell has said she is ‘shocked and disgusted’ at a video from former mayor Naheed Ejaz saying evidence against her rapist son has been planted.
Taxi driver Diwan Khan was jailed for 12 years at Winchester Crown Court last week after raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl, having given her vodka and MDMA.
At the sentencing, it was revealed that Mr Khan had 11 previous convictions and a Freedom of Information request revealed 52 entries about him on the police database.
His licence to drive a hackney carriage and private hire vehicles was revoked in January 2024 after when the police brought a complaint about another attack on a vulnerable young woman to the council’s attention.
The victim, a Year 10 pupil at the time, later failed all her GCSEs and attempted to take her own life.
Ejaz, who was also convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, clearly recorded the video in the precincts of the court before her sentence.
In it, she denies wrongdoing and claims both she and her son were targeted because of their ethnicity, religion and, in Khan’s case, gender.
Responding to the footage, Cllr Purnell told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This video shocked and disgusted me. It is callous and shows how far she is still prepared to go to lie and deceive those around her.
“This video shocked and disgusted me. It is callous and shows how far she is still prepared to go to lie and deceive those around her.
“There is only one reason Ms Ejaz and her son were tried, convicted and sentenced for their crimes: because the brave victim spoke out. My thoughts remain with the victim.”
Other political leaders also condemned the video. Liberal Democrat group leader Mike Forster described it as “utterly disgusted… self-indulgent, untrue and frankly absurd”, adding that both Ejaz and Khan were convicted of “vile and disgusting crimes” and that her claims were “sickening”.
Conservative leader Gareth Barnard said the video was “absolutely appalling” and called for an investigation into the local Labour Party’s handling of the case.
But Cllr Purnell hit back that Ejaz had “lied to all of her Labour colleagues, just as she was proven a liar in court”.
The case has continued to provoke strong reactions locally, with Helen Purnell placing particular emphasis on the devastating impact on the victim and the importance of recognising her courage in coming forward.
She has set a new priority for the council to protect women and girls and will be launching a new women’s charter in the summer.