By: SwatiRana
A POLICE officer from Rochdale has been jailed after pleading guilty to spying for an organised crime group.
PC Mohammed Malik, 37, who tried to save victims in the Manchester Arena terror attack while he was off duty, led a double life as an underworld spy while working for Greater Manchester Police.
Malik was jailed for two years and four months after pleading guilty to sending police information to an organised crime group in exchange for money.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that his ‘unblemished reputation’ masked his involvement in serious organised crime.
Malik was accused of helping a friend, Mohammed Anis, 35, by using the police force’s internal systems to search for people and cars involved in a crime gang to warn Anis whether officers were planning on stopping and searching certain vehicles.
In return, Anis would then pay Malik every month, and around £600 worth of payments were found in bank transfers by investigators.
Malik joined the police in 2009 and earned many commendations for tackling drug dealing in Manchester city centre.
In January 2017 Malik met Anis and the pair embarked on an ‘unhealthy relationship’ which lasted for more than a year until they were arrested in November 2018.
Anis would use Snapchat and WhatsApp to send images of cars and names of individuals he wanted Malik to look out for.
Malik also searched a Seat Leon in the GMP system that was recovered by police with a bullet hole in its bumper.
Anis was caught while collecting a kilo of cannabis, stashed in Asda carrier bags, from another man in Higher Broughton, Salford.
Minutes later police pulled his car over and discovered the bags in the boot – stuffed with drugs worth as much as £7,500.
He was arrested and, along with Malik, was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
Malik pleaded guilty early on but, in the face of what a judge would later describe as ‘frankly, utterly overwhelming evidence’, Anis denied it, before being found guilty in a trial at the end of May.
Both of them were jailed at a hearing last month. Malik was sentenced to two years and four months in prison, while Anis was sentenced to three years and ten months.
Sentencing, Judge Andrew Menary QC told the disgraced officer he had undermined public trust in the police, adding, ‘For about 12 months from February 2017 and January 2018 you were involved in a corrupt relationship with your friend Mohammed Anis.
‘Having a friendly police officer who could supply inside information was a potentially very useful resource. It allowed criminals or those supporting criminal activity to be forewarned of police interest in them and their illegal activities or simply to know what the police knew about them and their activities.’
Detective Superintendent Steve Keeley, of GMP’s Anti-Corruption Unit, said: ‘At GMP we expect the highest standards from all of our officers as part of their duty to serve the public, and it’s clear here that Malik failed to do this and is rightly being punished for his crimes.
‘This is a good result that sends a strong message to anyone involved in corruption that we will investigate and will pursue prosecutions to bring those responsible to account.’
