Ali Dizaei in court on corruption charge

A former Scotland Yard commander accused of corruption over a scuffle in a restaurant will stand trial within months. Ali Dizaei, 48, appeared in court yesterday to deny charges of misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice.

The prosecution follows an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The charges are linked to an incident outside the Persian Yas restaurant in Kensington, west London, in July 2008. Iranian-born Mr Dizaei, in uniform, arrested businessman Waad Al-Baghdadi after a row in which he claimed he was poked with the mouthpiece of a hookah water-pipe.

The first charge alleges Mr Dizaei is responsible for misconduct in a public office by threatening Mr Al-Baghdadi and by "purporting to arrest and detain" him knowing he did not have reasonable grounds. The second charge alleges Mr Dizaei perverted the course of justice by falsely claiming in written statements that he "had been a victim of an unprovoked assault by Mr Al-Baghdadi".

A date for the next hearing should be set before 8 July, Luton Crown Court heard.