Top police officer 'bullied' man over website pay row

A Metropolitan Police officer assaulted and falsely arrested a man who asked to be paid for working on his personal website, a court has heard. Commander Ali Dizaei, 47, bullied web designer Waad Al-Baghdadi when he asked for £600 for work on alidizaei.com, Southwark crown Court heard. A forensic examiner said injuries to Mr Dizaei's chest after the clash were "likely to be self-inflicted". He denies misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice. The charges relate to a confrontation that took place at the Persian Yas restaurant in Kensington. Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said: "These are allegations of the wholesale abuse of power by a senior police officer for entirely personal and oblique motives. "It involves the bullying of a fellow citizen, it involves intimidating and threatening him. "That he assaulted and detained and he falsely accused a fellow citizen of criminal conduct". 'Urgent assistance' The court heard Mr Dizaei, who was in police uniform, challenged the web designer to a fight to which Mr Al-Baghdadi said, "If you are police commander of all this world you still have no class". Mr Al-Baghdadi left the restaurant and dialled 999 to complain but the officer appeared with his handcuffs, interrupted the call and arrested him. The jury heard a part of the call in which Mr Al-Baghdadi can be heard narrating the incident and Mr Dizaei can be heard taking the phone and saying: "This man is threatening, I need to get him arrested." Three minutes later the officer made a 999 call asking for "urgent assistance". Police report The prosecutor said Mr Al-Baghdadi can be heard complaining in Persian that his arm or hand may break. The court heard the officer wrote a police evidence statement and told colleagues that Mr Al-Baghdadi confronted him as he sat in a car with his wife. Mr Dizaei wrote: "I feared he would get very violent". He added he felt "a sharp object in my stomach" which "looked like a knife". After the incident red marks on Mr Dizaei's chest and abdomen were examined by Dr Maureen Heath at a police station. Mr Wright said: "In the judgment of Dr Heath, the injuries that were noted were more likely to be consistent with self-inflicted injuries as opposed to injuries sustained during an alleged assault." The prosecutor added that Mr Dizaei claimed to have received threatening voicemails and text messages from Mr Al-Baghdadi before the incident, but had "accidentally" deleted them. Mr Dizaei, a former president of the National Black Police Association, was prosecuted following an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The case continues.