A 'criminal in uniform’, jailed for corruption
Ali Dizaei, a 'criminal in uniform’, jailed for corruption. UK
One of the country’s most senior police officers, who tried to counter misconduct allegations by accusing his force of racism, was jailed for four years yesterday after he was finally exposed as “a criminal in uniform”.
By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent
Published: 12:14AM GMT 09 Feb 2010
Commander Ali Dizaei became the highest-ranking officer to be convicted of a criminal offence in 33 years. A jury took 10 minutes to convict the 47-year-old Iranian of misconduct and perverting the course of justice after he assaulted and tried to frame a businessman to settle a personal score.
Sir Paul Stephenson, the Met commissioner, said Dizaei, who was cleared of the same charges in a trial seven years ago, had smeared the reputation of the country’s entire police service with his “disgraceful behaviour”.
He has previously faced allegations of taking drugs, spying for Iran, fiddling his expenses, abusing his police credit cards and fabricating evidence and his conviction at Southwark Crown Court in London vindicated the force’s decision to pursue him. Dizaei has repeatedly accused the Met of racial prejudice to deflect allegations against him, making numerous counter-claims that resulted in previous Scotland Yard commissioners, including Sir Ian Blair, having to apologise to him.
Opponents claimed that his ascent up the ranks to commander came only as the force attempted to overcome its label of being “institutionally racist” in the wake of the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
The court heard that Dizaei considered himself untouchable, but Mr Justice Simon said the lengthy jail sentence showed that no police officer, however senior, was “above the law”. “You knew how the system worked and you thought you would never be discovered,” said the judge.
He said Dizaei, who was once hailed as a role model for ethnic minority officers in his 24-year career, had been guilty of “a grave abuse of public trust”.
Nick Hardwick, the head of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said the greatest threat to the reputation of the police service was “criminals in uniform like Dizaei”.
While his career is over, the legal battle is not. Dizaei, who earned £260,000 while he was suspended pending the two trials he had faced, is expected to appeal — further increasing the estimated £8 million cost of investigations that reach back a decade — and to pursue another race claim over allegations that his suspension from the force was racist.
He is being supported by the National Black Police Association, of which he is a former president.
The Met was seeking to recoup his multi-million-pound pension pot, which he would not automatically lose, despite his conviction.
The jury was not told that Dizaei faced further disciplinary allegations over claims that he colluded with a lawyer to get a friend off a drink-driving charge.
The officer was described in court as a bully, a liar and a “gangster” after he attacked Waad al-Baghdadi, 24, in Kensington, west London, in July 2008.
Mr al-Baghdadi designed Dizaei’s personal website and claimed that the policeman owed him £600 for the work. He challenged him when the two men met by chance but Dizaei arrested and handcuffed Mr al-Baghdadi, then falsely claimed he had been threatened and stabbed in the stomach with a metal key ring.
Mr al-Baghdadi had called 999 just before being detained to say he was being threatened by the officer, but the call was overruled seconds later when Dizaei took his phone and told the operator that he was arresting the victim for a public order offence and needed “urgent assistance”.
The officer’s story began to unravel when doctors said his injuries appeared to be self-inflicted.
Mr al-Baghdadi later compared Dizaei to a gangster because he used his influence in the Iranian community to intimidate people.
Mr Hardwick, who was responsible for investigating the original complaint against Dizaei, said: “He behaved like a bully and the only way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them.”
Sir Paul Stephenson said Dizaei had damaged the reputation of the entire police service. “Bearing in mind his rank and disgraceful behaviour, he should not be surprised at the severity of his sentence,” he said. Ali Dizaei, a 'criminal in uniform’, jailed for corruption - Telegraph
Jailed police chief Ali Dizaei in cell brawl
Jailed police chief Ali Dizaei in cell brawl ‘after family picture was defaced’
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent
06.08.10
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Disgraced police chief Ali Dizaei is being investigated over claims he assaulted a fellow prisoner, the Standard can reveal.
The corrupt former Met commander is accused of attacking the inmate in his cell after a row. But Dizaei, 47, says he was the victim of a racist attack by the man.
Both prisoners suffered minor injuries and did not need hospital treatment. The fight took place in the Category D open prison where Dizaei was serving a four-year sentence for misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice. He has since been moved from the open jail at Prescoed in Monmouthshire to another for his own safety.
The Welsh prison's governor has called in police to find out who was responsible. One report claims that Dizaei lashed out at his fellow inmate for allegedly defacing a family photograph on the walls of his cell. But Dizaei is counter-claiming that he was the target of a racist attack.
The former high-flying officer was jailed at Southwark crown court in February after a jury heard how he tried to frame web designer Waad al-Baghdadi in a row over a £600 debt.
Dizaei assaulted Mr al-Baghdadi, 24, outside an Iranian restaurant in West Kensington, then tried to pretend he was the victim. The then £90,000-a-year commander called police and told officers that the man had attacked him with an Arabian smoking pipe.
Mr al-Baghdadi complained about his treatment and Dizaei's story fell apart when a doctor gave evidence that his injuries appeared to be self-inflicted.Mr al-Baghdadi later compared Iranian-born Dizaei to gangster Tony Montana from the Al Pacino movie Scarface. The Independent Police Complaints Commission also branded him a “criminal in uniform”.
Since his conviction, Dizaei has been moved to a series of jails amid fears for his safety. He began his sentence in Wandsworth but was moved to the part-open Category C Edmunds Hill prison in Suffolk. While there, he was knocked out and had excrement poured over his head by an inmate.
He was transferred to Usk jail in Monmouthshire, which specialises in housing sex offenders and where he was considered to be better protected from attacks. He is now believed to have been moved from Prescoed to Leyhill open prison, Gloucestershire.
A Prison Service official said: “Two inmates at HMP Prescoed claim they were the victim of assault by the other on August 1. One has been moved.”
Man once tipped to be Met Commissioner
Ali Dizaei has courted controversy throughout his career, first as a police officer now as a prison inmate.
He was once tipped as a future Met Commissioner but became notorious as the most senior policeman in 33 years to be convicted of, and jailed for, a criminal offence.
Iranian-born Dizaei joined the Met in 1999, the year in which the Macpherson report accused the force of being “institutionally racist”.
As one of the force's most senior ethnic minority officers he quickly became outspoken on race issues.
Dizaei gained rapid promotion and also became president of the Black Police Association.
In 2000 he was investigated for corruption amid claims of taking drugs, using prostitutes, fiddling his expenses and even spying for Iran.
Two years later he stood trial at the Old Bailey but was cleared of all charges. Supporters accused the Met of conducting a racist witch hunt against him.
Dizaei won an apology, £60,000 in compensation and promotion.
Five years later he was promoted again, to commander, but after 12 months he was accused of misconduct and charged, leading to his conviction at Southwark crown court in February. He began his jail term at Wandsworth.
Married three times, Dizaei has three sons by his second wife Natalie.http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...-cell-brawl.do
