999 calls of jailed sex gang supplier
OFFENDER MADE GUN ALLEGATIONS AHEAD OF STABBING
Crime Reporter OPERATION Shelter convict Mohibur Rahman made four 999 calls himself in the days before he stabbed Indian restaurant workers in a drug-fuelled rage, while on bail for grooming girls on Tyneside.
But an investigation by the police watchdog has found that Durham Constabulary’s actions in the buildup to the attack were proportionate.
The 44-year-old was jailed for 16 years in February after pleading guilty to wounding at Teesside Crown Court.
He then had four and a half years added to his prison term by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court after being convicted of two counts of permitting premises to be used for the supply of the drug MCAT, three counts of supplying MCAT and conspiracy to incite prostitution for gain, following Northumbria Police’s Operation Shelter investigation into a gang that sexually exploited women and girls in Newcastle.
Rahman, of no fixed abode, was on bail for these offences when he launched a ferocious attack at the Shapla Indian restaurant in Darlington, where he was working as a pot washer at the time. Waiter Saju Ahmed, 17, and restaurant owner Abu Bakar Raju sustained lifethreatening injuries when Rahman set upon them with a filleting knife in front of diners on July 21.
Following the incident Durham Constabulary voluntarily referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) because its officers had arrested Rahman for an unrelated matter in the days before the attack, and made 999 calls himself.
The investigation looked at the police’s contact with Rahman in the 43 hours prior to the stabbing, when he made four 999 calls to Durham Constabulary and was detained at Darlington for possession of a controlled substance.
During one of the calls to the police, Rahman claimed he had seen people with firearms. The assessment of the call handler was later found to be appropriate and no firearms were involved in the incident. The force also received a 101 call from Rahman’s landlady to report criminal damage at his flat.
The IPCC has now revealed that its investigator did not believe any of the police call-handling staff or police officers involved had a case to answer for misconduct.
Although Durham Constabulary did not send officers to Rahman’s address within their one-hour target time in response to his final 999 call, in the investigator’s opinion this was as a result of a lack of resources rather than a failure to follow policy.
IPCC operations manager Lauren Collins said: “Our investigators examined all of Durham Constabulary’s contact with Mohibur Rahman in the days prior to the attack.
“Although there were no identifiable conduct issues, we have identified learning for Durham’s control room staff about how they handle calls concerning firearms.”