Muslim policeman who made a hoax 999 call to tell his own West Midlands force there was a ISIS attack imminent is jailed for seven years

A police officer who sparked a nationwide terror alert by making a hoax 999 call to his own force has been jailed for seven years.

PC Amar Tasaddiq Hussain sent West Midlands Police into 'overdrive' after phoning through an anonymous warning that a terrorist with links to Syria was planning to kidnap a Muslim policeman.

Jailing Hussain at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Michael Chambers QC criticised the 29-year-old officer for showing no remorse and pleading not guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Earlier this month, Hussain had appeared unmoved in the dock as a jury convicted him of two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

A three-week trial at Stafford Crown Court was told his actions prompted West Midlands Police to take unprecedented security measures to combat a supposed plot to kidnap a Muslim officer.

The trial also ended with the conviction of two men from Birmingham - Adil Bashir, 26, and 31-year-old Muhammad Ali Sheikh - on the same charges.

Jurors, who returned unanimous guilty verdicts after deliberating over three days, were told PC Hussain hoped his bogus tip-off would discredit an official within an Islamic community group.

The malicious 999 call in December 2014 - passing on details of the 'kidnap' plot - followed two other anonymous calls alleging that a sham marriage was taking place in Birmingham.

At the start of the trial, prosecutor Simon Davis claimed the call alleging a terrorist plot was an attempt by Pc Hussain to discredit a fellow member of Dawat-e-Islami, a faith group which held peaceful gatherings in the West Midlands.

The bogus allegation that a kidnapping was imminent led to a man being arrested by counter-terrorism police at a tyre business in Walsall.

But it soon became obvious to police that the claims made against the innocent party were malicious.

Addressing the court after the guilty verdicts, Judge Chambers said: 'These were extremely serious offences and in your case, Hussain, represent a vast breach of trust.'

In a statement issued after the convictions, the West Midlands force said its inquiries showed all three defendants were intent on undermining colleagues within the Islamic group.

PC Hussain, based at the Birmingham West and Central local policing unit, was suspended after his arrest in September last year.

Commenting on the offences, Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said: 'Hussain has not only let down West Midlands Police, he has also let down the peaceful organisation, non-political organisation that he was part of.

'The impact of the threat had a huge effect on officers and staff and in turn on their loved ones.

'Never before have we had to instruct officers and staff to call in after their tour of duty to let us know they had returned home safely.'

Mr Beale added: 'West Midlands Police expects the highest standards of those who work in the organisation and the vast majority of officers and staff uphold these high standards.

'There is absolutely no place in policing for those who abuse the trust placed in us by the public.'

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