30 replies to this topic

[Cheetah]

Babar Ahmad police officers not guilty of assault

Four police officers accused of beating up a terror suspect have all been found not guilty at Southwark Crown Court.

A jury acquitted Pc Roderick James-Bowen, 40, Pc Mark Jones, 43, Pc Nigel Cowley, 34, and Det Con John Donohue, 37, of assaulting Babar Ahmad.

Mr Ahmad, 37, was arrested at his home in Tooting, south London, in December 2003 on suspicion of leading a group which supported al-Qaeda.

Mr Ahmad was never charged in relation to his arrest but is in custody.

He is awaiting extradition to the US for alleged terrorism offences.

Mr Ahmad said he feared he would die in the early morning Metropolitan Police raid.

But jurors rejected claims that the officers attacked him.

After the not guilty verdicts were returned, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said he hoped what he described as Mr Ahmad's "ordeal" would come to an end as quickly as possible, either by his extradition to the US or his release.

Mr Ahmad claims the officers, then all constables in the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG), beat him repeatedly, swore at him, mocked his Islamic faith and humiliated him by touching his genitals in an assault that began at his house and continued in a police van and at a police station.

He alleged that one officer grabbed his throat and cut off his breathing.

Mr Ahmad told the court: "He kept squeezing to the point where I thought, 'This guy is going to kill me. He wants to kill me. I am going to die in the back of this van'."

But the officers said his injuries were either self-inflicted or caused by a legal tackle that took him to the ground when he was first detained.

The four officers involved in the raid had been told by senior officers to arrest Mr Ahmad.

He was believed to be the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked cell that acted as a conduit to terrorism overseas, providing recruits and logistical support.

Misconduct review

The Metropolitan Police Authority is set to publish an investigation into the incident.

In a statement, the Met Police said the court had heard evidence that did not support Mr Ahmad's account of events following his arrest.

Acting Commander Carl Bussey, head of the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "The issues that have arisen out of the arrest have now been ongoing for a long time and undoubtedly this will have been a difficult seven years for all involved.

"Given the result I will now ensure a misconduct review is conducted immediately so that the officers can be given a decision as soon as possible and this matter finally brought to a conclusion."

Source BBC News

[bensonby]

What a ghastly seven years it must have been for these officers.....

[Giraffe]

What a ghastly seven years it must have been for these officers.....

Indeed. I'm all for public accountability, but it's a disgrace that they can allow it to drag on for so long. That's a significant portion of their careers that they've had this hanging over them.

[CmdKeen]

The BBC news article is again light on details - although it has since been updated further.

This raid was less than a year after DC Oake was murdered during another raid to arrest a terrorist suspect. The officers involved were briefed that Ahmad was dangerous and likely to resist - which would account for the initial use of force and any injury sustained by that process.

The BBC news subtitles I saw hinted at some sort of "secret recording" that contradicted Ahmad's story. I do hope that the prosecution were relying on more than Ahmad's claims and that fact he had a few injuries in bringing the prosecution.

I hope the officers involved can get the disciplinary out of the way ASAP and get back to their lives.

-----

Update: It turns out a listening device was present in Ahmad's house which contradicted key parts of his allegation. Apparently this had only recently been turned over to the defence.

Edited by CmdKeen, 03 June 2011 - 01:08 PM.

[adu]

What a ghastly seven years it must have been for these officers.....

I happened to be waiting for a hearing in the same court room (let alone building) as these officers.
All I will say is that once the verdict was made the officers returned to the waiting room and were displaying some very genuine human emotions of joy and relief. After all it is understandable for people to be anxious after such a long process.

[callsign-kid]

It is quite wrong when when we are bound by PACE to do everything as quickly as possible in a timely, prompt and effective manner and yet the rest of the justice system is allowed to carry on like this.

[NJR]

Shows you what happens when people are backed into a corner and they squeal to try and get off with charges.

[stevec]

I find the quote on the BBC website interesting...

"The BBC understands some members of the jury later asked to meet the officers to shake their hands, correspondent Ben Ando reported."

not heard of this before.

Edited by stevec, 03 June 2011 - 06:44 PM.

[mikeb21]

Why on earth did Scotland Yard pay Babar Ahmad £60,000 in damages two years ago and 'admit' an assault/religious abuse took place?

Clearly innocent until proven guilty doesn't apply to police officers.

Edited by mikeb21, 03 June 2011 - 07:32 PM.

[Giraffe]

Why on earth did Scotland Yard pay Babar Ahmad £60,000 in damages two years ago and 'admit' an assault/religious abuse took place?

Clearly innocent until proven guilty doesn't apply to police officers.

That's an excellent point Mike. What a waste of money. Perhaps the officer who decided to award the money should be prosecuted for funding terrorists?

[Heimdall]

I recall a comment once about a certain police force's 'willingness' to pay out, out of court.

Found it quite frightening; Imagine the label of guilt or 'having done something wrong' when you find out the complainant has been given a cash settlement...
I think I'd just jack it in and leave.

[ataylor0]

I heard on the BBC news, whether its true or not they were given authorisation to use such force to apprehend him as he was resisting arrest.

Fair play to the officers if it was done with the sole intent to just arrest him in the most appropriate manner, if he provoked violence..

If they went OTT and assaulted him beyond necessity, not that assaulting someone should ever be necessary but you get what i mean, then shame on them...
(^^Excessive force is the one i'm looking for there^^)

[recovery man]

good to see it went well for the officers

[walesmjc]

It is quite wrong when when we are bound by PACE to do everything as quickly as possible in a timely, prompt and effective manner and yet the rest of the justice system is allowed to carry on like this.

Here here, good post

[Paxo]

The original story on the BBC has been updated even more.

Speaking after the verdicts, the officers' solicitor Colin Reynolds said secret recordings - which emerged in evidence - from a listening device planted in Mr Ahmad's home corroborated his clients' accounts.

"It was only weeks before this trial commenced that the prosecution then disclosed that a listening device had been planted in the home address of Babar Ahmad some time before his arrest in December 2003," he said.

Maybe a good reason that it the listening device could not be revealed before hand so perhaps it was a good job that the trial was not heard earlier.

The Metropolitan Police later said three of the officers would remain on restricted duties pending a decision on whether they should face a misconduct hearing.

The fourth officer, Pc Mark Jones, is currently suspended on an unrelated matter.

[cooldude786]

Police get away with everything most of the time!!!! The metropolitan police has a reputation of being the most racist force in the country and you guys here are feeling sorry for the officers! What about the man locked up who has had no charges brought to him or hasn't stood trial?

[TCambs]

Police get away with everything most of the time!!!! The metropolitan police has a reputation of being the most racist force in the country and you guys here are feeling sorry for the officers! What about the man locked up who has had no charges brought to him or hasn't stood trial?

You mean the officers who have been found entirely innocent and the man who has been shown to be a proven liar?

[boroughtrainer]

Police get away with everything most of the time!!!! The metropolitan police has a reputation of being the most racist force in the country and you guys here are feeling sorry for the officers! What about the man locked up who has had no charges brought to him or hasn't stood trial?

Is the bridge above your head noisy? Or can you hear the 'voices' inside your heed clearly?

[MerseyLLB]

Police get away with everything most of the time!!!! The metropolitan police has a reputation of being the most racist force in the country and you guys here are feeling sorry for the officers! What about the man locked up who has had no charges brought to him or hasn't stood trial?

Personally I am not sure that the Met has the reputation for being the most racist. What I am sure of is the Metropolitan Police and the McPherson report put together has led to one of the most overused out-of-context misquote in the past 20 years - "Institutionally racist".

Police get away with little these days.

[Stevie6544]

Were the officers on suspension or restricted duties for the seven years?

Someone ought to kick off about that, too - their careers have been permanently marked by this pathetic saga of 'correctness'.

'Cooldude786' - innocent until his extradition to the US on terrorist charges? That's where he's going next. The Yanks won't need sophisticated listening devices to prove their case, they use something more..ah..'organic'.

As for 'feeling sorry for the officers' - bloody poor excuse for a police site this would be if we didn't.

[adslegend]

Police get away with everything most of the time!!!! The metropolitan police has a reputation of being the most racist force in the country and you guys here are feeling sorry for the officers! What about the man locked up who has had no charges brought to him or hasn't stood trial?

Any force that serves an area where the demographic profile includes a large proportion of BME is naturally going to be labelled as racist, as simple statistics means that they are going to be dealing with more people of a BME background than other forces.

[Cromwell]

Police get away with everything most of the time!!!! The metropolitan police has a reputation of being the most racist force in the country and you guys here are feeling sorry for the officers! What about the man locked up who has had no charges brought to him or hasn't stood trial?

I completely agree. Why have we bothered investigating these officers? It's so obvious that the Met are totally racist, and that police officers get away with stuff all the time, that we should just have locked these men up without a trial.

Or, you could go get some friends instead of trolling websites for entertainment?

[M_R]

Police get away with everything most of the time!!!! The metropolitan police has a reputation of being the most racist force in the country and you guys here are feeling sorry for the officers! What about the man locked up who has had no charges brought to him or hasn't stood trial?

From looking at your profile and posts it is quite clear you have no interest in the police apart from to try and find some female police 'bird' to 'date' and to post endless amounts of posts regarding police officers getting let off with everything and being racist.

Tell me, do you actually work within the service or do you just read everything that is reported in the press and presume everyone is guilty until proven innocent? Or in this case still guilty despite being clearly proven to be innocent in a court of law by a jury!!

And as for feeling sorry for the officers - damm right I do! Knowing a colleague at the minute that is on restricted duties with something hanging over their head is terrible! Constant stress, sleepless nights, anxiety - and for what? To be cleared of any offence and to then have the force try and get you again through internal disciplinary procedures! And when all of that is done with do we get £66,000 like Mr Ahmad did? No, not even a sorry. Officers are just expected to get straight back to work like nothing has happened.

As someone else said on this article Police Officers get away with VERY little now a days - If you do read and look at the news section of this website over the previous few pages you will clearly see many officers being brought to justice for a variety of offences. This completely blows your theory of 'the police get away with everything' out of the water.

Grow up.

[cooldude786]

You mean the officers who have been found entirely innocent and the man who has been shown to be a proven liar?

Thats my argument that 90% of the time, the officers are found not guilty even when they are guilty! I've seen it happen. Should be ONE fair law for everyone regardless if you are a beggar or king

Personally I am not sure that the Met has the reputation for being the most racist. What I am sure of is the Metropolitan Police and the McPherson report put together has led to one of the most overused out-of-context misquote in the past 20 years - "Institutionally racist".

Police get away with little these days.

Yes and police are not and should not be above the law. Thats the most annoying thing for the general public

From looking at your profile and posts it is quite clear you have no interest in the police apart from to try and find some female police 'bird' to 'date' and to post endless amounts of posts regarding police officers getting let off with everything and being racist.

Tell me, do you actually work within the service or do you just read everything that is reported in the press and presume everyone is guilty until proven innocent? Or in this case still guilty despite being clearly proven to be innocent in a court of law by a jury!!

And as for feeling sorry for the officers - damm right I do! Knowing a colleague at the minute that is on restricted duties with something hanging over their head is terrible! Constant stress, sleepless nights, anxiety - and for what? To be cleared of any offence and to then have the force try and get you again through internal disciplinary procedures! And when all of that is done with do we get £66,000 like Mr Ahmad did? No, not even a sorry. Officers are just expected to get straight back to work like nothing has happened.

As someone else said on this article Police Officers get away with VERY little now a days - If you do read and look at the news section of this website over the previous few pages you will clearly see many officers being brought to justice for a variety of offences. This completely blows your theory of 'the police get away with everything' out of the water.

Grow up.

I think maybe you should grow up. I speak the truth and I don't care how people react to that. Neither do I trust the press. Thats why I said that the Met police have a reputation of being one of the most racist forces in the country. I did not say I personally believe that!

[Stratos]

Thats my argument that 90% of the time, the officers are found not guilty even when they are guilty! I've seen it happen. Should be ONE fair law for everyone regardless if you are a beggar or king




Yes and police are not and should not be above the law. Thats the most annoying thing for the general public

I think you'll find we actually have quite a few laws these days.

Edit: How fair would you like it to be? This was in a Crown Court, where a jury of regular members of the public decided that the officers were innocent. I can assure you that paranoid people such as yourself are in the minority and you are not speaking on behalf of the general public as you imply in your response to btppcso.

Edited by Stratos, 06 June 2011 - 03:13 AM.