A former police officer has been convicted of sexual abuse and misconduct in public office after running a police cadet scheme as a “grooming playground” to exploit children and young adults he was responsible for.
Adnan Ali, known as Adz, had Superman emblazoned on his cadet leader’s hoodie and underpants, a jury at Liverpool crown court heard.
The former Greater Manchester police (GMP) constable also often made late-night inappropriate phone calls to some of the victims – who were boys and girls – and sent photographs of himself in the bath or on the toilet.
Ali ran the Trafford volunteer police cadets from 2013 to 2018, working with teenagers aged between 13 and 17. In 2016 he was appointed as student officer coordinator by GMP.
The court heard he formed a relationship with one cadet, who gave birth to his son. His lawyer told the jury that he has since said he was bisexual.
Ali was convicted of 15 offences of misconduct and five offences of sexual assault. He was found guilty of sexually assaulting two teenage girls and a 17-year-old boy and having sexualised conversations with six other teenage boys and asking for and sending indecent images to some of them.
His behaviour also included him trying to kiss a 17-year-old cadet and massaging his shoulders; offering to take another 17-year-old boy to a brothel; and fondling two teenage girls.
Ali began running the cadet scheme after returning to work with post-traumatic stress disorder after suffering a serious knife injury earlier that year while on duty, the court heard.
An investigation by the Independent Office of Police Complaints (IOPC) found serious issues with the way the force supervised cadet leaders, including inconsistent training and a lack of safeguarding knowledge.
Catherine Bates, the IOPC regional director, said: “Ali’s disgraceful behaviour has had a significant impact on his victims and has absolutely no place in policing. He abused his position to exploit the young people who should have been safe in his care, and his complete refusal to take responsibility for his actions forced them to endure a lengthy and emotionally draining trial.”
Ch Supt Mike Allen, the head of GMP’s professional standards branch, said: “Ali represents the very worst and the minority in policing.” He insisted that those who discredited the police were being “rooted and booted out” of the force, but accepted the jury’s verdict would “do nothing to ease the public’s concerns about police misconduct”.
Ali will be sentenced on 23 June.
