PC Raja Bashrat Ahmed ( ur, راجہ بشارت احمد; 26 June 1964 – 31 August 1999) was a British police officer serving with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) who was killed when his motorcycle was deliberately rammed by a car thief into moving traffic. Ahmed was the first GMP officer to be

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

on duty since

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Raymond Codling was shot at a motorway service area in 1989. Local man Steven Draper was convicted in 2000 of Ahmed's

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

Background

Ahmed was a part-time law student and experienced police motorcyclist in the traffic unit of Greater Manchester Police.

Murder

On 31 August 1999, Ahmed was on motorcycle patrol in Miles Platting, in central Manchester, when he saw a suspected stolen Vauxhall Nova. Also in the stolen car were the driver's 27-year-old girlfriend, Sandra Reynolds, and her two daughters. Upon seeing Ahmed, the attacker reversed suddenly, forcing the officer to manoeuvre his BMW motorcycle between two cars. The suspect then drove at Ahmed's motorcycle, ramming him forward into the busy road junction; Ahmed was struck by an

articulated lorry A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer ...

. He was taken to hospital by ambulance but he died from his injuries.

Conviction

The driver of the stolen car, 28-year-old Steven Draper of Salford, was on probation for various vehicle-related offences, including theft. He had appeared before the courts on 24 different occasions previously, including once after he attacked a police officer with a screwdriver. Draper denied murdering Ahmed but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of causing death by dangerous driving. He was unanimously convicted of murder by a jury of seven men and five women at

Manchester Crown Court Manchester Crown Court (Crown Square) is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at Crown Square in Manchester, England. History Until the 1940s, criminal court cases were heard at the Manchester Assize Courts. However, the assize ...

, and was sentenced to life imprisonment on 30 June 2000 for causing Ahmed's death. Draper was disqualified from driving for seventeen years and ordered to re-take his driving test if he is paroled from prison.

Memorial

A monument commissioned by the Police Memorial Trust was built at the junction of Oldham Road and Queens Road in Miles Platting near the spot where Ahmed was killed."National Police Officers Roll of Honour"
. To commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the incident, on 31 August 2019 a new road near the murder in Miles Platting was named Raja Ahmed Street to honour the killed officer.

References

External links