Police officers 'beat up' terrorism suspect

Four police officers violently assaulted a terror suspect in front of his wife, and continued to do so after he had been handcuffed and restrained, a court heard yesterday.

Police constables Mark Jones, 43, Roderick James Bowen, 40, Nigel Cowley, 33 and Detective Constable John Donohue, 36, pictured, sat in the dock as the jury was played an audio recording of the alleged attack on Babar Ahmad during the arrest at his home in Tooting, south London, in December 2003. "They administered a very violent assault: in effect, they gave him a beating," said Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting.

The officers, part of the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group, carried batons and CS spray when they smashed into Mr Ahmad's home before dawn. The jury heard he was taken a room, where he was forced into a praying position, while the officers shouted "Where is your God now?", before removing his pyjama bottoms and grabbing his genitals. Mr Ahmad was released without charge six days after his arrest but has been in custody since 2004 awaiting extradition to America for alleged terrorism offences – the longest any British citizen has been held without trial on terrorism charges.

The police officers deny assault.