Nelson man jailed for not signing sex offenders register

Burnley Magistrates Court was told father-of-four Mumtaza Khaliq (38) was placed on the register for 10 years at the town’s crown court in October 2011, for sexually assaulting a girl. He had to carry out annual registration, telling police where he was living, but still hadn’t done it more than six months later. The defendant claimed he forgot.

Khaliq, a taxi operator, has now been locked up for four weeks, after admitting failing to comply with the register. District Judge Meirion Lewis-Jones told the defendant, of Fleet Street, Nelson: “I take the view this was a deliberate failure and that you failed to comply for a prolonged period of time.”

The district judge told the court: “It’s pretty lame to say he forgot. This is a serious business. The scheme can only work if people who are made subject comply. They can drop off the radar and then the public at large become extremely concerned about the whereabouts of some people.”

Prosecutor Mrs Tracy Yates told the hearing Khaliq had been convicted of sexual assault on a female under 16 and was on the Sex Offenders Register until October 2021.

He last notified police of his home address in February 2015. An officer visited him at home in January this year and advised him he needed to register on or before February 4th or he would be breaching the order.

Mrs Yates said on August 31st, the officer conducted a home assessment and confirmed the defendant had not complied with annual registration.

When Khaliq was questioned, he agreed he had not registered and said he had had family issues in May and had been unable to register. He couldn’t explain why he didn’t register before May. Mrs Yates said: “He admitted the offence and said he forgot.”

Glen Smith, for Khaliq, said it was the first breach of the register.

The solicitor continued: “He did go to Pakistan. His wife’s mother died. He went out for several weeks in the weeks leading up to the officer coming to the address.”

“He did go and try and register at Colne police station, as he had done in February 2015, but it was closed. Quite simply, he should have gone to Burnley.”