Met pays out £60,000 to suspect beaten and mocked for Islam

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Babar Ahmad, a 34-year-old IT support analyst, was in court to hear lawyers for Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson concede he was the victim of gratuitous violence by territorial support group officers during the dawn arrest at his home in Tooting in December 2003.

One unnamed officer allegedly involved is to face criminal proceedings, Mr Justice Holroyde heard.

The police admitted that officers subjected Ahmad to a sustained and brutal beating, despite his offering no resistance. An officer twice placed him in a life-threatening neck hold, causing him to feel that he was about to die.

Officers openly mocked his Islamic faith, at one point forcing him into a praying position with an officer shouting "Where is your god now? Pray to him." The court heard that Ahmad was never charged with offences after the arrest.

However in August 2004 he was arrested again following a request by the US government and has been detained in Long Lartin prison ever since awaiting a decision on extradition proceedings.

Mr Ahmad's brother-in-law, Fahad Ahmad, read out a statement on his behalf which said: "This abuse took place not in Guantanamo Bay or a secret torture chamber but in Tooting."