BTP successfully overturn decision to let officer keep his job in landmark case – London

British Transport Police have successfully overturned the decision of an independent misconduct panel who let an officer keep his job after being found guilty of gross misconduct.

Following an investigation by BTP’s Professional Standards Department and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), PC Imran Aftab, based in central London, appeared at a public misconduct hearing on 19 May 2021 where an independent panel found him guilty of gross misconduct.

They decided, however, that he would be given a final written warning rather than dismissed from his job.

BTP disagreed with this decision and immediately began legal proceedings to challenge the sanction through a judicial review in the High Court of Justice.

Following the misconduct hearing in May 2021, PC Aftab’s suspension no longer applied as the regulatory process was over. However, the Chief Constable exercised her powers to remove PC Aftab’s warrant card while the judicial review was considered, meaning he has been unable to access any BTP premises.

Following a Judicial Review Hearing on 1 December, today (17 March) the judge issued his written judgement. He ruled that the decision of the panel was irrational and would be overturned. PC Aftab is now formally dismissed from the force.

The hearing heard that on 15 April 2020, PC Aftab parked his car while off duty and approached a woman who was out jogging, before using his police warrant card to try and talk to her, thereby attempting to abuse his position for a sexual purpose.

The panel accepted PC Aftab showed the victim his warrant card in order to impress her and advance his prospects of building a relationship with her, and that he told the woman she “looked too curvy to be Asian”. Before leaving, PC Aftab asked the woman for a hug which was in itself deeply inappropriate,  and at the time also breaching government guidelines on social distancing at the time of the incident.

The panel were also shown evidence of a text the woman had sent to her friend at the time of the incident saying “help me”.

The force argued that the approach of the independent panel unlawful and it failed to understand the seriousness of PC Aftab’s behaviour, making the decision not to dismiss him incorrect.  

PC Aftab tried to claim to the High Court that he was a “victim of the times we are now living in today” but the Judge ruled that that there “could only be one rational and reasonable disciplinary outcome” from his behaviour and that BTP were “correct to observe that these proceedings capture a real and present national concern about male police officers’ conduct towards lone women.”

The judge stated it was his “own choice to approach a lone female and indulge in prejudiced racial stereotyping and sexualised language, amongst other troubling features of his conduct, which have been the undoing of his police career.”

Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi said: “There is no place for anyone like Imran Aftab in policing, so we were resolute in overturning the decision of the independent panel which had allowed him to continue his role as a police officer, despite being a risk to the women he was employed to protect.

“This is a strong position and a costly step for a police force to take, and I hope it reassures everyone of our determination to uphold the standards expected from those who work within British Transport Police and to root out those who corrupt our integrity.

“Using a warrant card to influence a lone woman for an officer’s sexual gain is a total abuse of police powers and so seriously undermines public confidence that it is destructive to the very fabric of policing by consent. It is completely unforgivable that any woman should feel so intimidated by the actions of a police officer that she feels compelled to text her friend for help.

“This is why we were so determined to ensure he doesn’t work another day as police officer, and I am pleased that the judge agreed with our challenge today.”