Can of Worms
The Times reports on the strange death of a serving police officer who was under investigation over his role in the Rotherham sex abuse scandal which included a claim that PC Hasan Ali gave one of the abusers an assurance that he would not be detained, if he handed a vulnerable and pregnant 14-year-old girl over the the police at a local petrol station.
Now that sounds completely stark, staring mad if you ask me, yet PC Ali was allowed to continue doing 'restricted duties' while these serious claims were under investigation.
By whom and for how long is what I'd like to know.
PC Hassan Ali, 44, from South Yorkshire Police died after being involved in a collision while off duty - SWNS
By Andrew Norfolk - The Times
A police officer who was under investigation for alleged misconduct linked to the Rotherham sex-grooming scandal has died after a car accident.
PC Hassan Ali, 44, had been placed on restricted duties while allegations against him were examined by the independent police complaints commission (IPCC).
The neighbourhood officer was off duty and crossing a road when he was involved in a collision with a car in Sheffield. He died on Thursday.
It can be revealed that he was once in regular contact with a violent convicted offender suspected of targeting and abusing more than a dozen under-age Rotherham girls, some of whom were made pregnant by him.
One of the man’s former child victims said that her abuser often spoke to PC Ali, always from a public phone box, when she was missing from home and with him.
The same officer was involved in an extraordinary deal in March 2000 under which the man agreed to hand the pregnant 14-year-old girl to police at a petrol station after receiving an assurance that he would not be detained.
Also involved in discussions with the abuser’s family during the same incident was Jahangir Akhtar, the former deputy leader of Rotherham council. He was related to the man, then in his mid-twenties.
Mr Akhtar resigned from his senior council role and stood down as vice-chairman of the South Yorkshire police and crime panel in 2013 after his role in the handover was revealed by The Times.
He has insisted that he spoke to the man’s mother at the request of the police. He denied knowing that incident was linked to child sexual exploitation.
Police and local authority staff have faced severe criticism since an inquiry found last year that 1,400 children had been abused in the town over 16 years, mainly by groups of men of Pakistani origin.
This week a government-ordered inspection report accused the council of being in collective denial about the scale and extent of its failings.
PC Ali, a police officer for 18 years, was one of ten serving or retired officers under investigation by the watchdog over their handling of sex-grooming cases.
The inquiry comes after referrals made by the South Yorkshire force. He was the subject of four complaints from two individuals.
They included claims that he twice asked a sex-grooming victim on a date, when she was aged 17 and 21, despite knowing of her abuse. The complainant described his conduct as “inappropriate and totally unprofessional”.
The Sheffield Star reported yesterday that PC Ali was the subject of a police “monitoring operation” before his death, which the force believes was a “tragic accident”. David Crompton, its chief constable, described him as “a well-liked officer whose colleagues are devastated by what has happened”.
This week The Times revealed that another police officer was the subject of a complaint referred to the IPCC, linked to his alleged corrupt relationship with groups of abusers.
It was revealed that two councillors, one of them a serving member, has been referred to the National Crime Agency over alleged involvement with child sex exploitation.
The two councillors were the subject of concerns raised during an inspection of Rotherham led by Louise Casey, the director-general of the government’s Troubled Families programme. Her report found that staff and councillors failed to acknowledge and tackle the endemic crime pattern because they feared being branded racist.
Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, stripped the council of many of its powers and a team of five commissioners will be sent to run the authority.
A police officer who was under investigation for alleged misconduct linked to the Rotherham sex-grooming scandal has died after a car accident.
PC Hassan Ali, 44, had been placed on restricted duties while allegations against him were examined by the independent police complaints commission (IPCC).
The neighbourhood officer was off duty and crossing a road when he was involved in a collision with a car in Sheffield. He died on Thursday.
It can be revealed that he was once in regular contact with a violent convicted offender suspected of targeting and abusing more than a dozen under-age Rotherham girls, some of whom were made pregnant by him.
One of the man’s former child victims said that her abuser often spoke to PC Ali, always from a public phone box, when she was missing from home and with him.
The same officer was involved in an extraordinary deal in March 2000 under which the man agreed to hand the pregnant 14-year-old girl to police at a petrol station after receiving an assurance that he would not be detained.
Also involved in discussions with the abuser’s family during the same incident was Jahangir Akhtar, the former deputy leader of Rotherham council. He was related to the man, then in his mid-twenties.
Mr Akhtar resigned from his senior council role and stood down as vice-chairman of the South Yorkshire police and crime panel in 2013 after his role in the handover was revealed by The Times.
He has insisted that he spoke to the man’s mother at the request of the police. He denied knowing that incident was linked to child sexual exploitation.
Police and local authority staff have faced severe criticism since an inquiry found last year that 1,400 children had been abused in the town over 16 years, mainly by groups of men of Pakistani origin.
This week a government-ordered inspection report accused the council of being in collective denial about the scale and extent of its failings.
PC Ali, a police officer for 18 years, was one of ten serving or retired officers under investigation by the watchdog over their handling of sex-grooming cases.
The inquiry comes after referrals made by the South Yorkshire force. He was the subject of four complaints from two individuals.
They included claims that he twice asked a sex-grooming victim on a date, when she was aged 17 and 21, despite knowing of her abuse. The complainant described his conduct as “inappropriate and totally unprofessional”.
The Sheffield Star reported yesterday that PC Ali was the subject of a police “monitoring operation” before his death, which the force believes was a “tragic accident”. David Crompton, its chief constable, described him as “a well-liked officer whose colleagues are devastated by what has happened”.
This week The Times revealed that another police officer was the subject of a complaint referred to the IPCC, linked to his alleged corrupt relationship with groups of abusers.
It was revealed that two councillors, one of them a serving member, has been referred to the National Crime Agency over alleged involvement with child sex exploitation.
The two councillors were the subject of concerns raised during an inspection of Rotherham led by Louise Casey, the director-general of the government’s Troubled Families programme. Her report found that staff and councillors failed to acknowledge and tackle the endemic crime pattern because they feared being branded racist.
Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, stripped the council of many of its powers and a team of five commissioners will be sent to run the authority.
