One of Britain’s leading award winning Muslim television journalists has been dramatically cleared in court of any wrongdoing after the Crown Prosecution Service were embarrassingly made to admit they had absolutely no evidence against him, just two weeks before a long-running case was to be heard in court.

It was a major victory for Asad Ahmad, presenter of BBC London News, who had always fiercely protested his innocence against a minor allegation of harassment. He had forced Britain’s Prosecution Service to court after they made, what he said, was a libelous public statement against him. The CPS were humiliated as they were cornered into accepting their earlier comments to the press about the case were not only wrong, but legally incorrect and their blunders together with those of the Metropolitan Police has cost UK tax payers around a quarter of a million pounds.

Both the Metropolitan Police and CPS now face the possibility of an investigation over their handling of the case. MPACUK has been taking a detailed look at the case and what follows is an account of what happened, which was grossly and shockingly mismanaged by both the CPS and police whose failings nearly ruined the career of one of the BBC’s most popular presenters.

Asad Ahmad has been actively involved with the Muslim Community for a number of years, encouraging people from all backgrounds and faiths to enter a career in the media. He is widely seen as a role model for thousands of youngsters in London and other parts of the UK. He has also previously attended an MPACUK event in East London to talk about the media and its role.

The harassment allegation, which was referred to in court as “entirely false”, concerned letters, emails and texts which Ahmad was supposed to have sent to Miss Thea Rogers, a former colleague and a broadcast journalist on Newsnight. Miss Rogers, based at the political Millbank offices of the BBC, places requests for MPs and Ministers to appear on the flagship current affairs program. She was herself investigated by the BBC in 2006 when she booked the current Work and Pensions Minister, James Purnell, to appear on Newsnight. Following the program, complaints by viewers appeared on the Newsnight website claiming Purnell had been given an “easy ride” by presenter, Jeremy Paxman. It materialised that Miss Rogers, who was responsible for getting Purnell on the program, was actually involved in a relationship with him at the time. The Minister also faced questions from parliamentary colleagues and opposition MPs after he admitted using his Ministerial car, paid for by the taxpayer, to take Miss Rogers for dinner after the program.

Weeks after Purnell’s appearance on Newsnight, Miss Rogers was escorted by police from Ahmad’s house in South East London after she turned up late one night at his family home, uninvited and wanting to talk. Ahmad says he had not wanted Rogers at his home and he dialed 999 after she refused to go. Ahmad also spoke to the police and BBC investigators some weeks later, claiming Miss Rogers had made threats towards him, a claim Rogers denied.

The allegation of harassment against the BBC presenter wasn’t made to the police until February 2007 when an article appeared in a newspaper detailing some of the above events. (The report used the word “stalker” to describe Miss Rogers for which she successfully sued Associated Newspapers.)

Following the allegation of harassment made by Miss Rogers to the police, Mr Ahmad was subsequently arrested. He denied any wrongdoing, said the allegation was entirely “false” and he fiercely protested his innocence. He refused a series of offers to accept a caution from the police - some of the offers have been described as “forceful” and are themselves subject to a complaint to the Police Complaints Commission. As a result of Ahmad’s refusal to accept a caution, the police had no option but to charge the presenter as he insisted his name could only be properly cleared in court where he would publicly disclose his evidence, which in turn would fully vindicate him. The court date was set for 4th September 2007. During this whole period and despite the press attention, Ahmad continued to report and present for the BBC almost every day.

Weeks before the September trial, the Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the case citing “public interest grounds” for not continuing. In a statement they said they had "carefully considered views that the victim had expressed recently and conducted a further review of the case, concluding that although there was sufficient evidence to prosecute it was no longer in the public interest to do so". In response, Ahmad said he was “disappointed” the case had been dropped as he could not be properly vindicated. He also said that he could not conceive of any reason why the case been dropped other than that the evidence could not be sustained, contrary to the CPS statement. Ahmad also complained to the CPS regarding their reference to the complainant being a “victim” as she could not be a “victim” unless it was proved she was actually subjected to harassment. Solicitors for the CPS agreed to retract the term as it was legally incorrect – a mistake which is in itself of concern when it is made by the body responsible for prosecuting individuals in court.

Ahmad’s disappointment at the case being dropped, forced him onto the offensive when he used a little known right in the Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985, to force the CPS back into court to prove they had “sufficient evident to prosecute” as they claimed in their statement. It is thought Ahmad may well have set a legal precedence by reviving the case, as the right is not commonly known to have been exercised previously. Although the CPS, Police and Miss Rogers must have been shocked by the extraordinary and bold move by Ahmad’s legal team, Ahmad was confident there could be no evidence against him and he maintained his absolute innocence regarding the allegation.

When the case was formally revived at Highbury and Islington Magistrates Court in Autumn 2007, the CPS and Police were forced to admit before a judge that the case was not discontinued on “public interest grounds” as they had told the media (this was to be the first of their admissions of giving knowingly false statements), but it was actually dropped at the request of Miss Rogers who did not want to continue with the case despite her allegations and her earlier commitment to the police that she would appear in court if required to do so. She did however make it known through the police that as the case had been revived, she would now see the case through to its end. The new court date was set for 7th January 2008.

In the interim period, the BBC Presenter was awarded costs against the Crown’s prosecution team after they failed to comply with a number of court orders to disclose relevant legal documents to Ahmad’s defence team. The amount awarded by the judge would ultimately be paid for by the British taxpayer and is thought to be around several thousand pounds.

Finally, just over two weeks before the trial, on 21st December 2007, Ahmad returned from a BBC reporting assignment covering the annual Hajj pilgrimage and found himself at Highbury and Islington Magistrates Court at the request of the CPS and Metropolitan police. Supported by his wife and top ranking legal team, the Crown requested that the case against Ahmad be dismissed with immediate effect as they finally admitted there was “no evidence to offer” in the case against him. The humiliating climb down and contradiction by the CPS from their previous statement, was an embarrassment not only for the prosecution but also the police who were always accused by Ahmad of conducting a flawed investigation and showing an unusual level of support for Miss Rogers.

During the brief hearing the prosecution explained to the court how they had decided to forensically test the letters and documents which Miss Rogers claimed Ahmad had sent her, but they had all proved negative. The Crown also surprised the court by casting doubt over Miss Rogers “credibility” following “new evidence which had come to light”. Judge Perkins told Ahmad he could leave the court “without a stain on your character” and he dismissed the case. The CPS barrister, their supporting team and investigating police officer left the court quickly, looking embarrassed and with their heads down.

Ahmad has been fully vindicated after bravely fighting both the CPS and Police in what looked to be a badly managed and grossly mismanaged case with distinct hints of prejudice.

Ahmad’s barrister, Benn Maguire, told the court that the allegations were “false” and he estimated the case to have cost the taxpayer around £250,000. Ahmad’s costs alone are expected to be around £150,000. Maguire told the court they were considering claiming their costs from Miss Rogers, but due to the amount of money involved, this may only be recoverable from central funds.

Ahmad made the following statement outside court:

“I have always vigorously denied the allegations against me and have pleaded my innocence throughout this case. Not surprisingly I have pursued all appropriate avenues to clear me name for example by refusing repeated and forceful offers of a caution from the police. Following the Crown Prosecutions Service's decision to discontinue the case on “public interest grounds” weeks before the trial date earlier this year, I took the highly unusual step of exercising my statutory right to revive the case.

"This was after the prosecution made what I consider to be libellous comments in which they said they had enough evidence to prosecute me and described the complainant as a “victim”, even though they were discontinuing the case. The prosecution claims of having evidence of wrongdoing were groundless. Just two weeks ahead of January’s trial date, the prosecution has now had to concede that they have no evidence to offer against me, contradicting their earlier statements.

"The wealth of evidence collected by the defence would have shown the prosecution’s decision to charge me as fundamentally flawed. This would have potentially caused great embarrassment to all those involved with the case including high profile figures from television, politics and sport.

"I am considering inviting relevant authorities to mount an enquiry into the manner in which the prosecution has handled this case, not least, given the fact that it has been a significant waste of cost to the taxpayer. I am delighted to be fully vindicated and would like to thank my solicitor Paul Morris and the legal team at BCL Burton Copeland.”

Ahmad has not spoken about the case since his victory and so the high profile names which would have been referred to or appeared at the trial remain nameless.

The BBC would not comment about the case except to say it was “a personal matter” and they would not comment to questions put to them by MPACUK over the future of Miss Rogers who remains at Millbank booking MPs and Ministers for Newsnight.

We were unable to obtain comment from the CPS, however we will continue to try over the next few days and keep you updated.

MPACUK will also make a call to the Metropolitan Police for comment on this shocking story. One can only wonder if deep-rooted Islamophobia within the Met had any part to play in this.

Asad Ahmad continues to present the news in London and also continues meeting youngsters from all parts of the UK, of different faiths, backgrounds and class and encourages them to work hard to reach their goals. He is also still active in encouraging Muslims everywhere to play a positive role in British society.

MPACUK and Muslims around the country congratulate him. We urge all Muslims and non-Muslims to leave messages of support below, which we will forward to him.

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