MPS commander Ali Dizaei found guilty at retrial

Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) commander Ali Dizaei was jailed for three years this week after being convicted of misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice following a retrial.

Mr Dizaei was found guilty of attacking Waad al-Baghdadi in Kensington in 2008 after Mr al-Baghdadi confronted him about money he was owed for designing a website.

Southwark Crown Court heard that Mr Dizaei inflicted injuries on himself in order to frame Mr al-Baghdadi.

He denied the charges and will appeal. Mr Dizaei was first convicted in 2010 and served 15 months in prison before his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal. He could, however, be released from prison in one month, once time already spent in jail is taken into account.

Passing sentence, the judge, Mr Justice Saunders, said: “You are a very senior officer. The breach of trust that the public has placed in you is the more serious because of your senior appointment. You have been a role model to many other people as a result of your achievements as a police officer.”

In February 2010, Mr Dizaei was sentenced to four years in prison for misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice. He won his appeal against misconduct and corruption charges last May and faced a retrial.

On release, Mr Dizaei, who was also a former president of the National Black Police Association, described his time in prison as hell and like “putting a hand in a wasps’ nest” as he lived alongside individuals he had spent many years trying to bring to justice.

At the re-trial, in his defence, Mr Dizaei claimed he suffered a “torrent of abuse” from Mr al-Baghdadi and felt threatened, but prosecutor Peter Wright QC said he was “pursuing a citizen for his own personal motive”. The court was told that the officer’s actions amounted to “wholesale abuse of such power by a senior officer”.

Gaon Hart, senior crown advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “Dizaei had no proper reason for making this arrest and there was no real evidence that this young man had committed any crime on that day. Dizaei’s corruption, which would be deplorable in any police officer, was all the more so given his position as a highly ranked commander.

“The public entrust the police with considerable powers and with that comes considerable responsibility. Dizaei abused that power and ignored that responsibility.”

He added that the public should have confidence that the CPS will prosecute anyone, regardless of their position or the difficulties encountered along the way, where there is evidence that they have committed serious offences of corruption.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said Mr Dizaei “wanted to ruin his victim’s life” adding that “there is no room in the police for corrupt officers”.

Deborah Glass, deputy chair of the IPCC, said: “Commander Dizaei was not content with arresting and locking up Waad al-Baghdadi nearly four years ago, when he abused his powers as a police officer in dealing with a personal dispute. Mr Al Baghdadi told the jury that Commander Dizaei threatened to ruin his life and the impact this case has had on him.

“Yet he had the courage to make a complaint, the bravery to face in court the man who had arrested him and the determination to give evidence against him in two trials.

“I am glad that the jury has recognised that whatever Waad Al Baghdadi may have done in his past, it did not impact on Dizaei’s criminal behaviour in 2008. Waad Al Baghdadi had nothing to gain in pursuing a complaint against Ali Dizaei – except justice.”