PC suspected of stabbing himself then falsely claiming he was attacked

PC Mesut Karakas said a young black man had leapt over the counter and knifed him after he was found bleeding following a seemingly random attack at a police station three months ago.

But last night it emerged that Pc Karakas, who is in his 20s, has been suspended from his duties on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

Sources claim it is suspected the young officer was trying to gain sympathy by staging the attack and portraying himself as the victim.

He may also have been trying to divert attention from a separate investigation into claims he misused a police car.

Officers from Scotland Yard's Department of Professional Standards (DPS) are investigating the chain of events, but at this stage Pc Karakas has only been suspended, not arrested.

Last night, the unmarried Turkish officer, who lives with his parents in Hackney, North London, said he had done 'nothing wrong' and insisted his initial story that he had been attacked was 'absolutely correct'. Pc Karakas, who said he had been in his job for two and a half years, was based at Muswell Hill Police Station in North London.

He claimed the stabbing took place at Wood Green Police Station, in the same borough, in the early hours of May 13 this year.

He gave a detailed description of the attacker after he was released from hospital and four suspects, including a boy aged 15, were arrested. However, all have been released without charge.

Officers began to question Pc Karakas' version of events after it emerged there was no obvious suspect on CCTV footage from security cameras covering the entrance to the police station.

The officer is understood to have been on full sick pay for more than two months and will remain on full pay during the course of the investigation.

It is suggested that rather than being attacked by a stranger, the officer stabbed himself with a pair of scissors then lied to divert attention away from the separate probe into claims he took a neighbourhood watch car for his own use.

The officer is based at the same station where another office, Constable Keith Blakelock, worked before he was killed by a mob in the Broadwater Farm riot in Tottenham in 1985.

Following the apparent stabbing, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair used Pc Karakas' account to highlight the dangers faced by his officers.

Yesterday, Pc Karakas' mother answered the door at their home and said she spoke no English, but claimed her son was 'on holiday'.

However, the officer then emerged from the family's ground floor flat to say: 'I have done nothing wrong. My name will be cleared and the truth will come out.'

He added: 'I'm not prepared to go into it. There is an investigation and at the end of it my name will be cleared.'

Asked whether his initial version of events that he was stabbed had been correct, he added: 'Yes, it is absolutely correct.'

A source close to the investigation last night said the officer had become 'obviously depressed' since the allegations against him surfaced.

'He is upset about what has been said because he is in the dark too,' he said. 'He is not coping with it very well. He has never been arrested, but he is suspended pending the outcome of the enquiry.

'Internal investigations such as this can go on for months. He is standing by his version of events.'

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'An officer has been suspended on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and is under investigation by the Department of Professional Standards.

'Four people previously arrested in connection with the incident have been released with no further action to be taken.

'The DPS are also investigating a separate matter involving the same officer regarding an allegation of unauthorised use of a vehicle at Haringey Police Station.

'It would be inappropriate to discuss the matter further while the DPS investigation is going on.'