A former police constable who used a cadet training scheme as a 'grooming playground' to sexually assault two teenage girls and a 17-year-old boy has been found guilty. Adnan Ali, who ran a cadet unit for the Greater Manchester Police force, denied twenty charges at Liverpool Crown Court.
The 36-year-old father-of-one was accused of sexually assaulting the trio and of fifteen counts of misconduct in public office involving sexualised conversations. He was found guilty on all counts for incidents between 2015 and 2019, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Ali, of Old Trafford, Manchester, was found guilty of sexualised conversations with six other teenage boys and asking for and sending indecent images to some of them, a court heard.
The officer was police leader of Trafford cadets in 2013 with the unit growing to 130 recruits. Prosecuting counsel, Anne Whyte, KC, claimed that he 'threw out the rule book' by breaching boundaries with his communication and conducts with cadets. He was arrested in October 2018 after a complaint was received about him 'behaving inappropriately' towards a 16-year-old boy.
Police seized his devices and officers found thousands of messages and identified more victims. Charges were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service in July 2021.
In April 2022, he was dismissed from the force and barred from policing at a hearing over gross misconduct. Representations to the Deputy Mayor will now be made by police that Ali should be forced to forfeit his pension.
Assistant Chief Constable Colin McFarlane said: "Whilst Ali is responsible for committing these crimes, no one should be subjected to crime or misconduct during their contact with police officers and staff, like these young people were – for that, and in acknowledgement that Ali could have been better supervised and managed, we are sorry.
“My thanks go to the victims and witnesses who bravely supported the prosecution which secured today’s verdict. Though trials are a fundamental part of the criminal justice system, the impact they can have on those involved and with whom cases resonate is not underestimated. We will ensure they are supported for as long as they need.
"Alongside the criminal and misconduct investigations, this case initiated a full review of GMP’s Volunteer Police Cadet Scheme. With national oversight, improvements have been and are continuing to be implemented to ensure cadet leaders are the role models they are expected to be and that they do not pose a risk to anyone."
Head of GMP’s Professional Standards Branch, Chief Superintendent Mike Allen, said: "Today’s verdict will do nothing to ease the public’s concerns about police misconduct. However, Ali represents the very worst and the minority in policing - he is among a very small percentage who discredit the police service and undermine trust and confidence in it.
"These individuals are being rooted and booted out by exemplary colleagues reporting their behaviour, investigating allegations, building cases against them, and playing a crucial role in proceedings to ensure they face the full force of the criminal justice system and have the many privileges of working in policing taken from them.
“Following national direction to all forces, the Force Vetting Unit is currently re-vetting all GMP officers and staff to ensure those who are wearing the force uniform and that those who have applied to do so are fit to serve the public.
"However, efforts don’t stop there. Whilst the assessment teams review complaints and allegations, the investigation teams and misconduct proceedings unit work together to secure the best criminal and misconduct outcomes, as a covert unit work under cover in amongst the workforce to stop corrupt officers and staff in their tracks.
"Though ensuring all employees behave with the highest standards of professional behaviour won’t be completed overnight, the people of Greater Manchester, the thousands of exemplary GMP officers and staff, and the force’s trusting stakeholders have my guarantee that, with my oversight of Professional Standards, the branch will do everything in its power to ensure the Code of Ethics is upheld to protect public trust and confidence in our ability to deliver outstanding service."
Ali will be sentenced at a later date.
Reports can be made anonymously via Crimestoppers - Independent UK charity taking crime information anonymously | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org) or 0800 555 111.
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