Four police officers have been accused of assaulting terror suspect Babar Ahmad as they arrested him in 2003.
The officers, all members of the Metropolitan Police’s territorial support group, will be charged with causing actual bodily harm.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Pcs Nigel Cowley, John Donohue, Roderick James-Bowen and Mark Jones will appear before magistrates on September 22.
Ahmad, 36, was held by officers who raided his home in Tooting, south London, in December 2003. In March last year the Met paid £60,000 damages as lawyers for Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson admitted he was the victim of violence.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer’s decision to bring criminal charges came after an independent review by retired senior judge Sir Geoffrey Grigson into the handling of the case. An original Met inquiry concluded no officer should be disciplined and prosecutors did not bring criminal charges.
Ahmad remains in Long Lartin prison after the European Court of Human Rights halted his extradition to the United States to face terror charges. The court will announce next year whether transferring him breaches his rights by exposing him to life imprisonment without parole and solitary confinement.
ITN
Leave a Reply