PC 'targeted' and sexually abused primary school student over two years

A police officer has been officially sacked from his force - nine months after being jailed for sexually assaulting a young girl.

PC Farooq Ahmed, 38, walked into a police station last November with a note confessing to sexually assaulting the primary school pupil over a two year period.

In December he admitted three counts of sexual assault of a child and one of making an indecent image of a child and he was jailed in January for two years.

Ahmed, an officer with Greater Manchester Police since March 2017, was dismissed on Thursday after a misconduct hearing chaired by Chief Constable Stephen Watson.

Watson said he was "appalled" by the "disgusting abuse of a young girl".

"I expect our officers to uphold the highest standards of conduct with public safety being their main priority," he said.

"Ahmed fell well below these standards when he committed these unforgivable offences and his actions do not represent what I expect of an officer of the Greater Manchester Police."

Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard Ahmed "targeted" the girl and inappropriately touched her three times.

On the next two occasions, he touched and licked her private parts and forced her to touch him inappropriately.

Ahmed, from Ashton-under-Lyne, filmed the last incident, it was heard, but deleted the footage a short time later.

The offences occurred between 2016 and 2018 but only came to light in November when Ahmed walked into a police station to confess his crimes.

Prosecutor Brian Berlyne told the court that at the time that Ahmed had been suspended from his duties but was still being paid by the force.

A victim impact statement from the mother of the young girl told how “her world fell apart” when she discovered what had happened.

In the statement, she said: “I did not know what to say or think. There was a lot of tears and shock. This has had a massive impact on all our lives.”

Representing Ahmed, defence counsel Johnathan King said his client had the “deepest remorse.”

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He said: “This is a guilty plea at the first opportunity. Mr Ahmed wishes to convey his deepest remorse for these offences.

"He accepts he must face the full consequence of this.”

Detective Sergeant Zahid Latif of GMP said: “This was disgusting abuse of a young girl and it is important today that justice has been served for the victim, who has been receiving support from specialist officers and partner agencies throughout this investigation.

“The victim has been at the heart of this case during the entirety of our investigation and we hope that she and her loved ones are able to take some comfort from today’s verdict. There is absolutely no place for abuse such as this in our society and Ahmed is now behind bars to consider his actions and the profound impact they have had on his victim.”

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