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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Ryan Merrifield

Jilted police officer sacked after trying to frame ex-girlfriend for 'gangster's murder'

A jilted police officer has been sacked by his force for trying to frame his ex-girlfriend for a string of bogus crimes.

Jealous PC Abubakar Masum, 24, wrongly accused Mia Pitman, 23, in anonymous tip-offs to Crimestoppers after she dumped him.

University student Mia was arrested by armed police in her part-time job stacking shelves in a Tesco store - and had her student digs raided as officers searched for a gun.

Masum, of Swansea, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice - and has now been sacked by South Wales Police for gross misconduct.

A court heard Masum was "obsessed" with Mia who ended their relationship after she learned he had been seeing another woman.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that after she broke up with him Masum began making "false, untrue and malicious" claims against her and other men in anonymous calls to Crimestoppers.

Student Mia Pitman, 23, was accused of murdering a gangster in bogus tip offs (WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Masum is banned from ever serving as a police officer in England and Wales (WALES NEWS SERVICE)

Criminology student Mia - who wanted to enter the police force - was accused of shooting dead an Albanian gangster, hiding a gun in her garden and plotting murders with Tesco colleagues.

Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said: "The offence of perverting the course of public justice is particularly serious and increases the seriousness of the misconduct.

"There can be no doubt that PC Masum’s criminal conviction has an adverse impact on public confidence in policing.

"I recognise that the conduct involved premeditation, planning, targeting and taking deliberate steps and thus has a higher degree of culpability.

"There is an element of personal advantage and is an abuse of trust and position.

"I am satisfied that the misconduct is so serious that nothing short of immediate dismissal is a sufficient outcome to maintain public confidence.

Masum appeared at Cardiff Crown Court (Media Wales)

"I have no hesitation in concluding that the conduct and subsequent criminal convictions of PC Masum requires that he is immediately dismissed. No lesser outcome is justified or appropriate."

The ruling means Masum will be banned from working in all police forces in England and Wales.

During the trial, prosecutor William Hughes said in one call to Crimestoppers, Masum reported: "Mia Pitman is storing is a handgun on behalf of Leon Croucher.

"He is a known Class A drug dealer."

The call went on to say Mia and her workmate Mr Croucher "planned to shoot" a man who allegedly owed them drug money.

University student Mia [pictured] was arrested by armed police in her part-time job stacking shelves in a Tesco store (WALES NEWS SERVICE)

Mr Hughes said Mia and Mr Croucher were arrested mid-shift by armed police while working at the Tesco store in Swansea Marina.

Another 20 armed officers raided her student home to look for a gun after the bogus anonymous tip-off.

The court heard an investigation was launched into Masum after police began to suspect the repeated calls against Mia were "malicious".

Mr Hughes said detectives realised some of the information in the reports would only have been made available to serving South Wales Police officers or members of the criminal underworld.

After being arrested Masum admitted making all of the calls but said they had been made "in good faith" from real posts he witnessed on Mia's Snapchat.

Mr Hughes said: "He felt he had to make the reports because he feared for his own safety."

Masum, of Swansea, denied two counts of perverting the course of justice and unauthorised access of a police computer.

Masum was found guilty following a two-week trial at Cardiff Crown Court and is due to be sentenced later this month.

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