Asif Vali

Asif Vali, the 56-year-old former manager of Olympic silver medallist and boxing champion Amir Khan, was unanimously found guilty by a jury at Bolton Crown Court of multiple sexual offences committed against a woman in Bolton in February 2013.

The three-day trial concluded on 19 December 2024, with Vali denying all charges throughout the proceedings. He faced two counts of exposure, two counts of sexual assault, and one count of assault by penetration. The prosecution, led by Huw Edwards, detailed how Vali had allegedly bought underwear for the victim and performed sexual acts on himself in her presence. Edwards urged the jury to consider the victim's credibility, stating, "There’s no reason for her to tell a lie because this isn’t a lie." He highlighted that the woman had endured cross-examination and been labelled a liar, yet maintained her account of the assault, from which she escaped by pulling a cup of coffee onto Vali.

In his defence, Bob Elias emphasised the jury's pivotal role in determining truth, drawing historical parallels to the Magna Carta signed at Runnymede in 1215 and quoting Rudyard Kipling's The Reeds of Runnymede. Elias referenced the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair to question the absence of physical evidence from the victim, describing the case as "one person’s word against another" and noting Vali's reputable position managing a successful boxer in the town.

Summing up, Honorary Recorder for Bolton Judge Nicholas Clarke KC underscored the binary nature of the accounts, bluntly stating, "To be blunt, one of them is lying through their teeth about what happened." The judge reminded the court of the conflicting testimonies: the victim claimed Vali assaulted her, while Vali insisted no assault occurred and that he had thrown the coffee at the wall following an argument over a loan request. Evidence included statements from the victim's partner and Vali's 2019 police interview with DC Kirsty Kaye of Greater Manchester Police, where he repeatedly denied the incidents.

Following the guilty verdict on all counts, Vali, of Hill Cot Road, Astley Bridge, was remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing hearing scheduled for 26 February 2025 at Bolton Crown Court. The case, reported by The Bolton News chief reporter Joe Harrigan, sheds light on the long-suppressed trauma the victim carried for over a decade before coming forward.