A serving Greater Manchester Police officer has been jailed for four months after it emerged he had lied about a speeding offence.
PC Raja Yousaf, 28, tried to report his number plates as having been stolen, and said that he was in Stockport at the time of the speeding incident.
But a patrol car had recognised him as the driver of a car driving at speed in Oldham.
PC Yousaf’s story quickly unravelled through a police investigation, and he was arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice.
The initial speeding incident occurred on 30 July 2021, around midnight, when the patrol recognised PC Yousaf driving a BMW at speed.
Officers lost sight of the car and then tried to stop it using emergency equipment, but the vehicle drove off, last seen on Greenacres Road.
20 minutes later, PC Yousaf reported his plates as stolen.
In September 2021, he attended Oldham Police Station, and, under caution, denied he had been in the car.
He said that he had been in Stockport at the time that the speeding vehicle was spotted.
Investigations proved that PC Yousaf’s mobile phone had been in Oldham on the night in question – not Stockport – and he was subsequently arrested and later charged with perverting the course of justice.
PC Yousaf, who works in GMP’s Tameside district, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court in June and was sentenced at the same court on 30 August.
He has been suspended from duty since June 2022 and will now face internal disciplinary proceedings.
Featured image: GMP