Former police officer found guilty of five counts of sexual assault and 15 counts of misconduct
A former police officer has been found guilty of five counts of sexual assault and 15 counts of misconduct in a public office.
Adnan Ali was charged over incidents between 2015 and 2019, involving young men and women on Greater Manchester Police‘s volunteer cadet scheme which he ran. He had denied the allegations.
Ali, a father-of-one, was arrested and suspended in October 2018, after GMP received a complaint that he had been behaving inappropriately towards a 16-year-old boy, Liverpool Crown Court was told.
Adnan Ali
Electronic devices were seized following his arrest, with officers finding thousands of messages and identifying further victims whose evidence was used to secure the charges which were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service in July 2021.
Sexualised messages were discovered on PC Ali’s mobile phone, and a number of those who came forward reported being sexually assaulted by the officer, the trial heard.
Though Ali will be sentenced at a later date, he has already been dismissed from his job and barred from policing, when gross misconduct was proven in April 2022.
Following today’s conviction, the force will suggest to the deputy mayor Kate Green that Ali, 36, should be ordered to forfeit his pension.
Chief Inspector Colin McFarlane told Sky News that the offences Ali had committed were “appalling” and “abhorrent behaviour”, and that the force welcomes the decision of the courts.
Mr McFarlane said it was “very shocking” Ali exploited his position as a police officer, adding: “What is important to identify is that nobody coming into contact with police officers or staff should be exposed to harm, and clearly these young people have had that experience.
“Ali is responsible for the offences he committed, but I acknowledge that more could have been done to supervise him in his time at Greater Manchester Police.”
He said that while he did not know Ali personally, it was clear from the evidence presented and his conviction that he had “no place in policing”.
Following the charges, GMP said it was continuing action to “ensure predatory employees are rooted and booted out”.
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Head of GMP’s Professional Standards Branch, Chief Superintendent Mike Allen, said: “Today’s verdict will do nothing to ease the public’s concerns about police misconduct.”
He said that Ali represented the “very worst and the minority in policing”, adding: “He is among a very small percentage who discredit the police service and undermine trust and confidence in it.”
He continued: “These individuals are being rooted and booted out by exemplary colleagues reporting their behaviour, investigating allegations, building cases against them, and playing a crucial role in proceedings to ensure they face the full force of the criminal justice system and have the many privileges of working in policing taken from them.”
Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regional director Catherine Bates said: “Ali’s disgraceful behaviour has had a significant impact on his victims and has absolutely no place in policing.
“The investigation also highlighted serious failings in the way cadet schemes were being managed by GMP and we welcome a range of steps taken by the force since these offences were discovered to improve supervision of the officers entrusted with this level of responsibility.”
Rory McIlroy has completed a career Grand Slam in golf with his win at the US Masters tournament.
The Masters was the last major tournament left for McIlroy to complete the modern golf Grand Slam – a feat only five others have managed before him.
McIlroy, who was making his 11th attempt at completing the Grand Slam, faced off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to decide the Masters champion, after they finished tied on 11 under at the end of regulation on Sunday.
McIlroy reacts as he wins. Pic: AP
McIlroy reacts after winning against Justin Rose at the Masters. Pic: AP
“It’s my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said just before slipping on the Green Jacket during the presentation ceremony.
“I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
McIlroy had missed his six-foot putt for par, a bogey which dropped him back to 11 under, where he joined Rose – leading to a dramatic play-off between the two.
Only five other golfers have been able to complete a career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
Pic: AP
McIlroy is a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, claiming the prize in 2012 and 2014.
The 35-year-old also won his first major title, the US Open, in 2011, and won The Open Championship in 2014.
How did McIlroy get to the victory?
McIlroy recovered from losing his overnight two-shot advantage with an opening-hole double bogey to initially take control at Augusta National, only to blow a four-shot lead over his closing six holes.
The world No 2 bogeyed the last to close a one-over 73 and slip back to 11 under alongside Rose, who overturned a seven-stroke deficit and posted a stunning final-round 66 to force a play-off.
The players returned to the 18th for the play-off, where McIlroy made amends for his 72nd-hole blunder by firing a stunning approach to within three feet of the pin and making the birdie putt required for a life-changing win.
UK
Race to keep British Steel furnaces running with last-minute efforts to secure raw materials under way
Last-minute efforts to keep British Steel operating are to be carried out today, as the plant races to secure a supply of raw materials.
The Department for Business and Trade said officials are working to secure supplies of materials, including coking coal, to keep British Steel operational, as well as to ensure all staff will be paid.
It added that setting up new supply chains was “crucial” as a fall in blast furnace temperature could risk “irreparable damage to the site, with the steel setting and scarring the machinery”.
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British Steel: What happens next?
Companies including Tata – which ran the now-closed Port Talbot steelworks – and Rainham Steel have offered managerial support and materials to keep the Lincolnshire site running.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that “when I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it”.
“Steel is vital for our national security and our ambitious plans for the housing, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the UK,” he added.
“We will set out a long-term plan to co-invest with the private sector to ensure steel in the UK has a bright and sustainable future.”
Unions said Jingye decided to cancel orders of key materials for the steelworks
Earlier this month, unions said the steelwork’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, decided to cancel future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
It meant the Scunthorpe plant had been on course to close down by May, bit it sparked urgent calls for government intervention.
Emergency legislation was passed on Saturday bringing the steelworks into effective government control, and officials were on site as soon as the new legislation came into force.
However, the business secretary has warned that does not mean the plant is guaranteed to survive.
Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds also said he would not bring a Chinese company into the “sensitive” steel sector again.
“I don’t know… the Boris Johnson government when they did this, what exactly the situation was,” he added. “But I think it’s a sensitive area.”
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‘I wouldn’t bring a Chinese company into our steel sector’
Jingye stepped in with a deal to buy British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant out of insolvency in 2020, when Mr Johnson was prime minister.
The minister added that while The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill stops short of the full nationalisation of British Steel, “to be frank, as I said to parliament yesterday, it is perhaps at this stage the likely option”.
The Conservatives accused the government of acting “too late” and implementing a “botched nationalisation” after ignoring warnings about the risk to the steelworks.
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Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “The Labour Government have landed themselves in a steel crisis entirely of their own making.
“They’ve made poor decisions and let the unions dictate their actions.”
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