Cop was giving teenager ‘career advice’
A Met Police officer accused of taking a 15-year-old girl’s phone number and asking to meet her after school said he wanted to give her career advice.
PC Adnan Arib, 45, allegedly quizzed the teenager about her personal life and suggested they go for a drink during 2019.
The officer, who worked at Bethnal Green Police station, also told a 16-year-old runaway she was pretty and asked if she wanted to out with him, Southwark Crown Court has heard.
Giving evidence Arib said he obtained the 15-year-old girl’s number when he was called to her house because of a family dispute.
He said he met the girl one afternoon in April 2019 after she had finished school and tried to convince her to join the police cadets.
‘My intention was to get our Borough Commander, who is a female, to convince her,’ he said.
‘It is a good thing for young people to attend before they leave school so they can get a certification.’
Jacqueline Carey, prosecuting, asked: ‘You accept you didn’t tell her mum,’‘Why didn’t you tell her you were meeting her daughter after school?’
Arib replied: ‘There was nothing formally arranged, I didn’t think of that at the time.’
He said he had previously worked in the Job Centre and could provide good career advice to young people.
The officer also claimed it would further his career if he was seen to be helping young people.
‘That would be a good example of me forwarding people’s progress, helping them out.’
He said he never told his superiors in the police that he was helping this girl because he didn’t think of it.
During his meeting with the girl he was dressed in plain clothes despite the record in his notebook showing him as on duty.
‘There was no mention in the park was there about giving her career advice or helping her become a cadet,’ said Ms Carey.
Arib said: ‘She wasn’t listening to me, she was talking over me.’
Ms Carey asked: ‘Do you think she didn’t hear you?’
Arib said: ‘I said come to the police station, it’s a two-minute walk from here. But it was clear that she wasn’t listening and wasn’t engaging.’
Ms Carey asked: ‘Why would you think this 15-year-old girl, who you say had told you that she doesn’t like the feds, would be interested in going to the police station about joining the cadets?’
‘I wasn’t in uniform,’ Arib replied. ‘It would be a good idea to go to the station, have a quick chat, show her the picture board. If the Borough Commander is available, have a quick chat with her.’
Ms Carey: ‘Do you agree that she was a vulnerable young woman? And there was concerns about her being sexually exploited?’
Arib: ‘Possibly.’
Ms Carey: ‘Did you not think that because she was vulnerable it would not be the best idea to meet her in the park without telling anyone?’
Arib: ‘She suggested the park, I didn’t.’
Arib had originally denied owning the phone that was used to text the girl.
He then admitted it was his two years later after colleagues found records of him topping up the credit and his handprint on the phone case, the court heard.
Arib said he was ‘not thinking straight’ at the time and answered no comment to questions about the phone on the advice of his solicitor.
‘Why didn’t you correct it?’ Ms Carey asked.
‘I was stressed and depressed,’ he replied.
Ms Carey: ‘You know full well you shouldn’t have been contacting her on that phone don’t you?’
Arib: ‘What happened on that day made me realise it wasn’t the right approach. I thought I was helping someone, helping someone’s life, but it wasn’t the case.
‘She got the wrong end of the stick and got it all wrong.’
Arib, of Barking, east London, denies two counts of misconduct in public office.
The allegations date from between 31 March 2019 and 4 July 2019.
The trial continues.
