The family of a terror suspect from Tooting have said police officers found guilty of “gross brutality” when they arrested him should face criminal charges.
Last week, one of the officers involved in the assault on Babar Ahmad, 34, was finally named after he was acquitted of racially assaulting two Asian teenagers.
PC Mark Jones, whose identity had been protected by a High Court order, was one of five officers who refused to give evidence at Mr Ahmad’s civil trial in March this year.
Following the acquittal, Mr Ahmad’s family said there was a culture of police acting as “brutally as they wish with full knowledge they will not be held to account by authorities”, and called for the officers to stand trial.
In a statement they said: “Over six months have now elapsed since the commissioner for the Metropolitan Police admitted that his officers carried out a brutal and horrific physical and sexual assault on Babar in December 2003.
“Despite these admissions, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has failed to prosecute a single officer for any offence.”
Fiona Murphy, Mr Ahmad’s solicitor of Bhatt Murphy, added: “It is a shocking indictment of the Metropolitan Police, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Department for Public Prosecutions that no officer has faced prosecution in respect of the assault.”
The CPS is waiting on the conclusion of a Met review of the case before deciding how to proceed, and Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions, is also considering whether to bring charges.
PC Jones, along with PC James-Bowen, PC Cowley, PC Donohue and their supervising officer, sergeant Paul Davis, refused to give evidence at Mr Ahmad’s civil trial – at which Mr Ahmad was awarded £60,000 compensation for “gross brutality”.
The five were part of the Metropolitan Police’s territorial support group (TSG) which arrested Mr Ahmad, a British Muslim and IT worker accused of running a terrorist website, on December 2, 2003.
Mr Ahmad, 34, was kicked and punched repeatedly during the incident, and twice held in a neck-hold to the point of unconsciousness.
One of the officers asked him “where is your God now” and told him to pray.
On November 3, a jury at Kingston Crown Court unanimously cleared PC Jones of racially aggravated common assault on two teenagers in west London in June 2007.
The jury was not told of his involvement in Mr Ahmad’s arrest.
Sergeant Paul Davis, now an inspector, gave character evidence in support of PC Jones during the trial.
The court heard PC Jones had 31 public complaints against him.
Last week it was revealed the TSG had received more than 5,000 complaint allegations over the last four years, mostly for “oppressive behaviour”.
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