Jilted PC sacked for falsely accusing his ex-girlfriend of killing gangster
A JILTED police officer has been sacked for trying to frame his ex-girlfriend for a string of bogus crimes, including the murder of an Albanian gangster.
Jealous PC Abubakar Masum, 24, wrongly accused Mia Pitman, 23, in anonymous tip-offs to Crimestoppers after she dumped him when he had an affair.
University student Miss Pitman was arrested by armed police while she worked at her part-time job stacking shelves in a Tesco store. She also had her student digs raided as officers searched for a gun she was allegedly keeping for a drug dealer.
Masum was found guilty of perverting the course of justice, and has been sacked by South Wales Police for gross misconduct. Cardiff Crown Court heard Masum was ‘obsessed’ with Miss Pitman, who ended their relationship after she learned he had been seeing another woman.
Masum began making ‘false, untrue and malicious’ claims against Miss Pitman and other men in anonymous calls to Crimestoppers, the court heard.
Criminology student Miss Pitman – who wanted to enter the police force – was accused of shooting dead an Albanian gangster, hiding a gun in her garden, and plotting murders with a Tesco colleague.
Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said: ‘The offence of perverting the course of public justice is particularly serious and increases the seriousness of the misconduct.
‘The conduct involved premeditation, planning, targeting and taking deliberate steps.
‘The misconduct is so serious that nothing short of immediate dismissal is a sufficient outcome to maintain public confidence.’
The ruling means Masum will be banned from working in all police forces in England and Wales.
Prosecutor William Hughes said in one call to Crimestoppers, Masum reported: ‘Mia Pitman is storing a handgun on behalf of Leon Croucher. He is a known Class A drug dealer.’
He went on to say Miss Pitman and her workmate Mr Croucher ‘planned to shoot’ a man who allegedly owed them drug money.
Mr Hughes said Miss Pitman and Mr Croucher were arrested by armed police while working at the Tesco store in Swansea Marina. Another 20 armed officers raided her student home to look for a gun.
Masum, of Swansea, denied two counts of perverting the course of justice and unauthorised access of a police computer, but was found guilty following a two-week trial. He will be sentenced later this month.