Corrupt officer Dizaei jailed again

Scotland Yard commander Ali Dizaei, 49, will never wear police uniform again following his conviction at a retrial for misconduct and perverting the course of justice.

Dizaei was first found guilty in 2010 of framing young businessman Waad al-Baghdadi in a street row. But he walked out of Leyhill open prison a year later after the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction.

Guilty verdicts for a second time mean there is now no way back for the senior officer, who created a web of lies to cover his tracks.

He received a three-year prison sentence at London's Southwark Crown Court, although this will be reduced by the 15 months he has already spent behind bars.

Passing sentence, the judge, Mr Justice Saunders, said Dizaei used his position and power to arrest Mr al-Baghdadi over a private dispute.

He told the policeman: "You are a very senior officer. The breach of trust that the public has placed in you is the more serious because of your senior appointment.

"You have been a role model to many other people as a result of your achievements as a police officer."

Iranian-born Dizaei, from Acton, west London, was jailed for four years after being convicted of the same offences in February 2010.

Dizaei's solicitor Imran Khan, of Manchester-based law firm Lewis, Hymanson and Small, said he planned to challenge his conviction.