Officer jailed after admitting perverting the course of justice

A serving police officer who claimed his number plates had been stolen to avoid driving offences has been jailed for four months.

A Greater Manchester Police patrol spotted a car driving at speed in Oldham on 30 July 2021 at around midnight and recognised the driver as PC Raja Yousaf.

Officers lost sight of the BMW and then tried to stop it using emergency equipment, but the vehicle drove off, last seen on Greenacres Road.

Around 20 minutes later, PC Yousaf reported his VRM plates stolen.

He attended Oldham Police Station in September 2021 and, under caution, denied he had been in the car and had been in Stockport at the time.

Investigations proved that PC Yousaf’s mobile phone had been in Oldham on the night in question and not Stockport, and he was subsequently arrested and later charged with perverting the course of justice.

PC Yousaf (13/06/95), 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.