London: A British police officer of Pakistani origin, who claims that his colleagues framed him for theft after he sued his force for alleged racism, is set to have his criminal conviction quashed.

Sultan Alam, a traffic constable, was jailed for 18 months after starting legal action against Cleveland police. Quoting sources, the Guardian today reported that the Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to contest his appeal against conviction -- which means the appeal court is near certain to clear his name.

Alam served as a constable and officially made a claim of racism against the Cleveland force in 1993. Months later, he was charged with handling stolen car parts, for which he was convicted at Teesside crown court in 1996. He served nine months of his sentence and was dismissed in 1997 in disgrace after a 13-year career.

He has always maintained he was framed after he sued the force for discrimination following a series of incidents, culminating in a Ku Klux Klan poster being left on his desk.

In 1999, an investigation by an outside force, Northumbria, began into his claims and lasted for over two years. The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently decided that four officers should be charged with criminal offences over allegedly framing him. All were cleared in 2004, but one later admitted two offences at a disciplinary hearing. Three have since left the force.

Alam was denied help by the Police Federation, which was found by a tribunal last year to have racially discriminated against him. The Federation had refused to help him take legal action to clear his name.

The tribunal ruled there was overwhelming evidence that Alam was racially discriminated against and victimised. It found documents were destroyed by an official in an attempt to thwart him.

Source : PTI