Former Local Police Boss in Court
Ex-Borough Commander Ali Dizaei faces corruption charges
Controversial police chief Ali Dizaei- once a well-known face in Chiswick – is in the news again as his trial on charges of misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice begins.
Mr. Dizaei, 49, who is a former Borough Commander in both Hounslow and Hammersmith and Fulham, denies charges of misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice.
The prosecution follows an investigation by officials from the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The two accusations are linked to an incident outside the Persian Yas restaurant in Kensington, west London, in July 2008.
Iranian-born Dizaei, who was wearing his uniform on the date in question, arrested Waad Al-Baghdadi after a row in which he claimed he was poked with the mouthpiece of a hookah water pipe.
The first charge alleges Dizaei is responsible for misconduct in a public office by threatening Mr Al-Baghdadi and by “purporting to arrest and detain” him knowing he did not have reasonable grounds.
The second charge alleges father-of-three Dizaei “did a series of acts which had a tendency to pervert the course of public justice” by falsely alleging in oral and in written statements that he had been the victim of an unprovoked physical assault.
Controversial police chief Dizaei was reinstated in his £90,000 a year job last October, following a decision by a senior police standards committee. But he was then suspended pending trial on corruption allegations.
The court proceedings are expected to last six weeks.
January 14, 2012
