Former police officer found guilty of five counts of sexual assault and 15 counts of misconduct

Published

2 years ago

April 24, 2023

admin

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.

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”.

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.”

UK

Home secretary to announce extra £500m for neighbourhood policing

Published

41 mins ago

November 19, 2024

admin

Home secretary to announce extra £500m for neighbourhood policing

An extra £500m of additional funding will be given to neighbourhood policing, the home secretary is set to announce.

Yvette Cooper will also lay out plans for a new unit to improve the performances of police forces across the country to end the “postcode lottery” of how effectively crimes are dealt with.

The Home Office says the unit will directly monitor police performance in areas prioritised by the government, including tackling violence against women and girls and knife crime.

The home secretary will make the announcements in her first major speech at the annual conference of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners on Tuesday.

Politics latest: PM branded ‘desperate’ after talks with China’s Xi

Ms Cooper is expected to say: “Public confidence is the bedrock of our British policing model but in recent years it has been badly eroded, as neighbourhood policing has been cut back and as outdated systems and structures have left the police struggling to keep up with a fast-changing criminal landscape.

“That’s why we’re determined to rebuild neighbourhood policing, to improve performance across police forces and to ensure the highest standards are being upheld across the service.

“The challenge of rebuilding public confidence is a shared one for government and policing.

“This is an opportunity for a fundamental reset in that relationship, and together we will embark on this roadmap for reform to regain the trust and support of the people we all serve and to reinvigorate the best of policing.”

As well as the new government performance unit, ministers also hope to improve the relationship between the public and the police by standardising and measuring police response times – something that is not currently monitored.

In the aftermath of the summer riots, sparked by the Southport stabbings on 29 July, Ms Cooper said respect for the police needed to be restored after the “brazen abuse and contempt” shown by the perpetrators.

She said too often people feel “crime has no consequences” and that “has to change” as she promised to restore confidence in policing and the criminal justice system.

Dr Rick Muir, director of policing thinktank the Police Foundation, said: “A serious reform programme like this in policing is long overdue.

“Too often in the past, officers at the frontline have been let down by outdated technology, inadequate training and inefficient support services.

“Until these issues are addressed, the public won’t get the quality of policing they deserve.”

UK

Post Office Horizon Scandal: Four suspects identified by police

Published

4 hours ago

November 19, 2024

admin

Post Office Horizon Scandal: Four suspects identified by police

Four suspects have so far been identified by police investigating possible criminal charges in the Post Office scandal, Sky News has learned.

Sources have said that among the offences being considered are perverting the course of justice and perjury.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for stealing from their branches between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon software caused accounting errors.

Money latest: Trump policy ‘could wipe billions from UK economy’

The Metropolitan Police is a so-called core participant in the Post Office public inquiry and has been monitoring and assessing material submitted.

It is expected that the number of suspects being investigated by police could rise in the next six to 12 months.

More than a million documents are believed to be being sifted through and the number of police officers investigating the scandal has also risen from 80 to 100, with work across every single police force.

It is not expected, however, that any charges will be brought before 2027/28, and that time frame could be extended.

A Sky News source said the number of suspects was seemingly “just a starting point”.

A meeting took place this weekend between more than 150 sub-postmasters, including Sir Alan Bates, and the Metropolitan Police.

Sir Alan said he had been told by officers that “it was going to take a few years” and that there are “no restrictions on how high investigations will take them”.

He also said the priority for sub-postmasters was financial redress and then, after that, victims will be “looking for people to be held to account”.

A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: “Yesterday [17 November] we met with Alan Bates and some of the affected sub-postmasters to provide a brief on our progress and next steps.

“Our investigation team, comprising around 100 officers from forces across the UK, is now in place and we will be sharing further details in due course.

“Initially four suspects have been identified and we anticipate this number to grow as the investigation progresses.”

UK

British Airways flights delayed after ‘technical issue’

Published

4 hours ago

November 19, 2024

admin

British Airways flights delayed after 'technical issue'

A “technical issue” at British Airways has delayed flights, reportedly for thousands of passengers.

Travel journalist Simon Calder said on X: “British Airways IT system failure is causing delays of 1-2 hours on many BA flights this evening… As delays build up I fear there will be cancellations tonight/tomorrow.”

In a statement on Monday evening, British Airways said flights were “currently operating, but are experiencing delays” and that its teams were working to “resolve a technical issue affecting some of our systems”.

Later they said it had been resolved: “Our teams worked hard to resolve an issue we experienced for a short time earlier this evening.

“We’ve apologised to customers for delays to their flights and ensured they were able to reach their destinations as planned.”

Earlier media reports suggested dozens of flights were grounded and that communications systems were affected.

One X user pictured people queueing on the tarmac in Verona, Italy. “What has happened to the nations airline? Not fit for purpose,” they said.

Replying to another X user BA said: “Our website is down. We are doing all we can to return online as soon as possible.

“Hopefully not too long before the Captain has his load sheet. Thanks for your understanding. Have a good journey when it is safe for you to be airborne.”

A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said: “We are aware of a technical issue that British Airways are investigating, and we will be working with them to provide updates to passengers as soon as they are available. Heathrow systems are operating as normal.”

In June many British Airways (BA) flights in Heathrow were delayed by several hours by a “technical fault” with baggage handling.

BA said there had been a “temporary technical fault” which had disrupted its baggage system at the airport and had apologised for the problems it caused.