Ex-Met officer sentenced over unauthorised searches on police systems

A former Metropolitan Police officer who made unauthorised searches on computer systems for his own purposes has received a suspended prison sentence.

Mohammed Rahman, 39, was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for two years, 100 hours of community service and 20 days of rehabilitation activity, in a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

Rahman, of Maltings Close in Bow, east London, had pleaded guilty to seven counts of misconduct in a public office.

Between October 2018 and February 2021, when he was arrested, Rahman had made unlawful searches on various police databases on at least seven occasions to access information about himself, family members and other people known to him.

He also carried out searches without a policing purpose on vehicle registration plates and addresses known to him.

Rahman, a constable attached to the North East Command Unit, was suspended from duty but has since resigned.

He now faces disciplinary proceedings for breaching standards of professional behaviour, the IOPC said.

Rahman was charged in August after an investigation by the Met’s Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command under the direction of the IOPC.

After sentencing, IOPC director Steve Noonan said: “Pc Rahman knowingly and deliberately made a number of unlawful searches on police databases on family members and people known to him over a lengthy period.

“He abused the trust put in him as a police officer and his actions have the potential to damage the public’s confidence in policing.

“Pc Rahman has now been held to account and has faced the consequences of his actions.”

Chief Superintendent Simon Crick, who leads policing in the North East Command Unit, said: “Pc Rahman would have been well aware, as all officers are, that police systems must only be used for a legitimate purpose and certainly not to carry our personal checks for his own use.

“His actions did not meet the high standards we expect and we will now move to a misconduct hearing as soon as possible.”