'No justice' for woman cyberflashed by custody officer

A police custody officer has been sacked for sending unwanted sexual images to a woman who he met while she was acting as an appropriate adult for a child suspect.

But the woman told the BBC she felt there had been "no justice" after being told there was not enough evidence to charge him with a criminal offence.

Aqib Ahmed, a civilian staff member of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), was only investigated after the woman made repeated complaints about his behaviour, which began in May 2024.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous and the BBC is calling Molly, said: "I've lost complete trust in the police and in bodies that are supposed to protect women."

Molly, who supports victims of domestic violence for a charity, said the stress of Ahmed's unwanted attentions had led to her struggling to sleep and even moving house.

"I couldn't sleep properly, I was nervous," she said.

"If I hear police cars going past I get worried."

Ahmed was working as a custody detention officer, tasked with looking after often vulnerable people in custody at a police station in Bolton, when he met Molly.

Appropriate adults assist young or vulnerable people in custody to understand the process and make sure their rights are safeguarded during questioning.

Molly said after she left the facility, she began getting messages from an unknown number which turned out to be the officer.

Initially she said the messages were innocuous, and she thought Ahmed would eventually "leave me alone" when he understood she was not interested.

"I kept the messages very blunt, very boring," she said.

"'What are you doing?' 'I'm cooking the kids' tea'.

"I thought 'he'll just get bored, he'll just leave me alone, he'll realise I'm just a boring middle-aged mum'."

However a few days later he sent her a picture of his penis, which Molly said was not encouraged in any way and was totally unwanted.

She said she reported Ahmed to GMP a few weeks after she met him, but claims she was told by a call handler that "police officers don't commit crimes".

It was only when she began contacting journalists and neighbouring force Cheshire Police that her complaints were taken seriously, she said.

After contact from its counterparts in Cheshire, GMP referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which began investigating Ahmed and also upheld a complaint by Molly that her initial reports about the officer had been ignored.

GMP previously said it accepted Molly had not received the level of service required and "reflective learning" processes had taken place.

The IOPC duly found evidence that Ahmed had sent pictures of his penis.

It said that in interview, Ahmed admitted exchanging numbers with Molly and that the chat "got a bit sexual".

The IOPC said some other allegations against Ahmed, including that he touched Molly inappropriately at the police station and accessed police systems to obtain her number, were not upheld due to lack of evidence.

He was sacked after a misconduct panel hearing on Friday found he had breached professional standards of behaviour around honesty and integrity; authority, respect and courtesy; instructions; and discreditable conduct.

The ruling means he is prohibited from working in a policing role in the UK again.

IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: "The staff member's actions were an abuse of his position and also seriously risks damaging the public's confidence in policing."

Molly welcomed the decision to sack Ahmed but described GMP's actions as "too little, too late".

She also criticised a decision, taken by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), to decline to press charges.

In correspondence with Molly, the CPS said it believed a jury could see some of the messages from her to Ahmed as "flirtatious" - which she told the BBC she categorically denied and described as "absolute baloney".

The CPS said her phone had not been forensically examined for all of their messages - which Molly insisted she was willing to have done.

Ahmed also told investigators that she let him put his number in her phone - which Molly denied.

A CPS spokesperson said: "Following a careful review of the evidence provided by Greater Manchester Police, we determined there was not a realistic prospect of conviction in this case."

Molly said she planned to pursue the case further, and added that she felt like "there's no justice, that Greater Manchester Police officers or staff can do what they want anytime they want and get away with it."

GMP told the BBC said it took reports about the conduct of its staff "extremely seriously".

Det Supt Dave Jones, from the force's Professional Standards Department, said: "Clearly, this was a serious breach of trust and as soon as we became aware of the incident, the officer was removed from his post and suspended, and we referred it to the Independent Office for Police Conduct."

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