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Police officers convicted of abusing positions in 'brazen' plot to steal and deal drugs

Two constables were part of gang plotting to use marked police car to steal drugs

Lizzie Dearden
Home Affairs Correspondent
Wednesday 23 August 2017 12:10 BST
Wahid Husman and Tahsib Majid used their jobs as West Midlands Police officers to plot to steal drugs
Wahid Husman and Tahsib Majid used their jobs as West Midlands Police officers to plot to steal drugs (West Midlands Police)

Two police officers have been convicted of “brazenly” abusing their positions in a plot to steal and supply drugs.

Wahid Husman and Tahsib Majid were constables with West Midlands Police when they conspired with an organised crime network, using their access to official systems for the plot and hiding heroin and cocaine in a shed.

They were exposed by an anti-corruption investigation that saw the pair put under surveillance and caught discussing drug dealing while on duty.

West Midlands Police said they worked with five other men to steal a consignment of illegal drugs destined for Birmingham and planned to supply them for their own financial gain.

The gang mounted a plot to use a marked police car to stop a vehicle used by a known drugs courier and steal from it, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Husman, 48, pleaded guilty to drug offences, conspiracy to steal and misconduct in a public office, and Majid, 36, was convicted of the same offences as well as unlawful disclosure of personal data following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

Husman began accessing police computer systems as far back as 2011, when he started to feed intelligence to some of his fellow conspirators - Shazad Mushtaq, Imaan Haidri and Akeesh Rasab.

A search of his home uncovered £7,000 in cash in his house and drugs including heroin hidden in his shed, while police also found a stash of heroin and cocaine in Mushtaq’s home and car.

Life as a teenage drug dealer

Majid was found guilty of unlawfully disclosing personal information after giving details of a person in custody to a friend and Husman admitted a series of conspiracies to commit misconduct in public office by accessing secure police systems for the benefit of drug dealers.

The pair, who were investigation officers based in the Birmingham district of Perry Barr, were suspended following their arrest in February and will now be dismissed from the force.

Co-conspirators Mushtaq, 42, of Ward End, Haidri, 25, of Aston, Rasab, 27, of Alum Rock, Asam Qayum, 28, of Alum Rock and Imran Rehman, 42, of Derby were convicted of drugs and conspiracy offences and will be sentenced in October.

Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe said West Midlands Police was determined “to weed out any corruption within the force”.

“This is an exceptional case and, thankfully, such serious criminal corruption is very rare,” she added.

“These officers brazenly abused their positions and carried out their offending while on duty. They let down their colleagues, friends and families but, fundamentally, the communities served by West Midlands Police.

"I would concur with the judge’s comments that they have disgraced the uniform.

"This investigation is an example of the brilliant and complex work of our counter corruption unit. Let me be clear: if you are corrupt we will track you down and you will face prosecution.

"There is absolutely no place in policing for those who abuse the trust placed in us by the public.

"We expect the highest standards of those who work in the organisation and the vast majority of officers and staff uphold these high standards.

"It is devastating for hard working and committed officers when they are so let down by a colleague.

"There is absolutely no hiding place in West Midlands Police for corrupt officers.”

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