Jury finds Dizaei guilty of misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice
A jury has decided it believed the word of a convicted fraudster over that of Scotland Yard commander Ali Dizaei, as it found the police chief guilty of arresting and framing a man in a row over money.
It was the second time a jury has convicted Dizaei of the offences and he again vowed to appeal against his conviction, on the grounds the jury was not told the main prosecution witness is a suspect in a rape case.
The jury at Southwark crown court was told that the man Dizaei arrested, Waad al-Baghdadi, had been found to be a serial benefits fraudster, after Dizaei was first convicted in 2010. Those revelations led the court of appeal last May to quash the convictions on the grounds it "significantly discredits" Baghdadi's testimony, and to order a retrial.
The second trial saw the jury take 11 hours to unanimously decide Dizaei was lying when he claimed Baghdadi had threatened him and assaulted him outside a west London restaurant in July 2008.
Dizaei, 49, was convicted of misconduct in public office for abusing his powers to falsely arrest Baghdadi, and perverting the course of justice for filing false accounts of the incident. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. After serving 15 months from his first conviction, he will spend at least another three months inside before being released on licence.
In July 2008 Dizaei had clashed with Baghdadi, who claimed the police commander owed him �600 for a website he had designed. Dizaei then arrested Baghdadi, and claimed to have been assaulted and poked in the stomach with the mouthpiece of a shisha pipe. Baghdadi spent 24 hours in a cell and six weeks on bail before it was decided he would not face charges.
Dizaei's 27-year police career will end with him being drummed out of the force in disgrace and almost certain to lose his pension.
The jury was not told that Baghdadi has been arrested and is being investigated over an allegation of rape. A file had been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider bringing charges, a Met spokesperson confirmed. He was also arrested over another rape allegation, but police decided not to take any further action, a decision now under review after it was challenged by the alleged victim. The Guardian understands both allegations relate to the same woman and Baghdadi is believed to deny the allegations. Baghdadi, 26, is also under investigation for an alleged "serious assault", the Met confirmed.
The prosecution of Dizaei followed an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, whose deputy chair, Deborah Glass said: "I am glad that the jury today has recognised that whatever Waad al-Baghdadi may have done in his past, it did not impact on Dizaei's criminal behaviour in 2008. There is no room in the police for corrupt officers and today's verdict underlines that."
Glass hailed the "courage" and "bravery" of Baghdadi for complaining and then testifying in court. During his evidence Baghdadi exercised his right to refuse to answer questions for fear of incriminating himself.
Dizaei had been a vocal critic of police failings on racism. He told the Guardian the case against him resulted from a "vendetta" because of his outspokenness.
Sentencing Dizaei, 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."
Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, said Dizaei had wrongly arrested Baghdadi in a "wholesale abuse of his power", adding Dizaei believed he could do what he wanted.
A doctor who examined Dizaei said he had faked injuries he claimed to have suffered during the arrest. The medic's credibility was challenged when she claimed Dizaei had been wearing a long truncheon when she examined him; CCTV footage showed he was not. But the prosecution witness stuck to her claim.
At the first trial it was claimed Baghdadi was an honest man and of good character. But the jury heard Baghdadi was convicted in September 2011 of committing benefit fraud by claiming �27,000 in the name of his dead father, from 2007 to 2010, and sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.
The jury also heard Baghdadi gave false details in the first trial about his name, age and date of birth; and was accused of glassing a man in the street outside a London nightclub in September 2009, according to two witnesses who testified in court.
Before he was taken back to prison for second time, Dizaei said: "The IPCC and CPS played every trick in the book to ensure the jury were not told the extent of Baghdadi's criminality. I challenge the CPS to charge him for the rape allegations. It's a sad day that a convicted fraudster, under investigation for rape and assault, is believed over a police officer.''The verdict will prove difficult for Dizaei's lawyers to overturn. They may believe they have evidence of further benefit fraud by Baghdadi, but appeal court judges will be mindful that twice juries have disbelieved Dizaei, and on the second occasion, did so despite hearing his accuser had repeatedly lied.
The clash with Baghdadi was during the summer of 2008 when Scotland Yard was engulfed in a race row. Dizaei was the main adviser to the assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur who accused his bosses of racially discriminating against him.
The Met had previously spent at least �4m investigating Dizaei, over a series of separate allegations, but that ended in 2003 with his aqcuital, after which he returned to work and won promotions and commendations for his work.
Dizaei showed little reaction, but while waiting for the verdict, his head was bowed and his brow furrowed.
After the verdict Dizaei's wife, Shai, vowed to fight on: "I promise you I will never give up. We will go back to the court of appeal. I will never give up."
Baghdadi was arrested on Monday over an alleged serious assault, Scotland Yard confirmed. The incident allegedly took place in September 2009 in central London. Baghdadi was arrested and bailed, pending further inquiries, police said.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/13/ali-dizaei-guilty-retrial
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