Ali Dizaei Dismissed from Met Police Service

"Dismissal appropriate sanction" for disgraced ex-Borough Commander

Commander Ali Dizaei has been dismissed with immediate effect from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) following his conviction for two serious criminal offences.

The Met say that on Thursday May 3, a Tribunal convened to consider a misconduct charge against Ali Dizaei following his criminal convictions and the subsequent receipt of the Independent Police Complaint Commission's report of their independent investigation.

The Tribunal found that Ali Dizaei had failed to meet the appropriate standard of conduct. It found that he was in breach of Codes 1, 8 and 12 of the Code of Conduct under Police Regulations 2004 relating to honesty and integrity, criminal offences and general conduct.

The Tribunal provided a report setting out its findings and any recommendations as to sanction to the Deputy Commissioner. He decided yesterday, May 15, that dismissal was the appropriate sanction for this serious breach of the Code of Conduct.

In February, Ali Dizaei, a former borough commander in both Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of misconduct and perverting the course of justice.

Dozaei, 49, one of the most senior British police officers to be convicted of corruption offences, was found guilty of falsely arresting a web designer in a dispute over money, and then lying in official statements by claiming he had been assaulted and threatened by the man.

Before the retrial he won his job back with the Metropolitan police but was then suspended on full salary of £90,000 . He had previously emerged unscathed from a series of inquiries over the years, including a multimillion pound undercover operation examining claims of corruption, fraud and dishonesty.

It was the second time Dizaei, who also served as Borough Commander in Hammersmith and Fulham, has been convicted of the offences. Dizaei was first convicted in 2010 but that conviction was quashed by the court of appeal in May 2011 after evidence emerged that Dizaei's accuser, Waad al-Baghdadi, had falsely claimed £27,000 in welfare benefits for his dead father, which raised questions about his reliability as a witness.

After the jury's unanimous guilty verdict, Dizaei vowed to appeal against his conviction.

He was expected to serve about three months in prison after being handed a three year sentence, but was released later that month with an electronic tag.

May 16, 2012