DCI Leanne Pook
Sami Ullah, the trial’s key witness
Appalling. Extract:
A senior policewoman is facing questions over her links to the key witness in a failed female genital mutilation prosecution that cost taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds.
DCI Leanne Pook took control of the investigation after campaigner Sami Ullah claimed a minicab driver had told him he had allowed his daughter to undergo the barbaric practice.
But last week, a judge threw out the ‘deeply troubling’ case, which prosecutors had hoped would bring about the UK’s first FGM conviction.
And today The Mail on Sunday can reveal that DCI Pook is a trustee of the anti-FGM charity where Mr Ullah worked and has known him personally for several years. [J4MB: The article goes on to reveal she tweeted messages including, “Seems right to end a fantastic day by highlighting the very fabulousness that is @sami_ullah13. The man is walking talking Rescue Remedy!”]
Last night, critics said Avon & Somerset Police must explain why it allowed DCI Pook to head a case involving a friend and even take a formal statement from him.
Local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger told The Mail on Sunday: ‘That is unbelievable – it’s a total conflict of interest. This shows there are major issues at Avon & Somerset Police – the force is losing credibility with the public it’s there to serve.’
We clearly need more women in the police.
