By James Simons-
A Lancashire police officer accused of conspiring with others to supply a Class A drug and becoming involved in the activities of an organised crime group is due to appear before a Crown Court judge.
PC Hakeem Mahmood, 30, is due at Burnley Crown Court on Friday, 14 August, facing two charges following an investigation into alleged police corruption. Mahmood is accused of conspiring with others to supply a Class A controlled drug and of the corrupt or improper exercise of police powers and privileges.
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It is further alleged that he participated in the criminal activities of an organised crime group between August 2024 and January 2026.
The investigation was carried out by Lancashire Constabulary’s Anti-Corruption Unit under the direction and control of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which became involved because of the serious corruption allegations.
The investigation concluded in June 2026, when a file was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS subsequently authorised the two charges. Mahmood was arrested on 24 June.
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The allegations are particularly serious because they concern an officer who is accused not simply of misconduct, but of allegedly using or abusing the position and privileges of a police constable while connected to organised criminal activity.
Corruption A Consistent Problem
The case comes against a wider backdrop of thousands of allegations concerning police conduct and corruption being recorded nationally each year.
IOPC figures show that 1,614 allegations categorised as “abuse of position/corruption” were logged across England and Wales in 2024/25. That included allegations involving financial abuse of position, sexual abuse of position, obstruction of justice and organisational corruption.
The latest figure was lower than the 1,838 allegations recorded in 2023/24, and below the 1,676 recorded in 2022/23. The figures therefore show that reported allegations in this broad category have fluctuated rather than followed a simple upward trend.
It is important, however, that these figures describe allegations and complaints, not proven offences. They should not be interpreted as meaning that 1,614 police officers were found to have committed corruption.
More broadly, Home Office statistics show that police officers faced 323 criminal court charges in the year ending March 2025, involving 189 individual officers. Of the 168 officers whose criminal-proceedings outcomes were known, 113 — 67% — were found guilty or pleaded guilty, while 36 — 21% — were found not guilty.
The figures also show the scale of the disciplinary system facing British policing. In 2024/25, 1,687 officers were referred to formal misconduct proceedings, with 790 found to have committed gross misconduct and a further 579 found to have committed misconduct. A total of 695 officers were dismissed following proceedings
There have been a number of recent cases in which police personnel have been accused or convicted of facilitating criminal activity through their position.
In 2024, former Thames Valley Police call handler Catherine Arrol was sentenced to 34 months in prison after admitting offences including participation in the activities of an organised crime group and misconduct in public office. The case followed an IOPC-directed investigation.
In another IOPC case, former Metropolitan Police officer Neil Sinclair was jailed for nine years in October 2025 after admitting corruption offences involving the unlawful disclosure of sensitive police information to members of an organised crime group and the movement of millions of pounds in criminal funds.
And in 2023, former Surrey Police officer Adam Davies faced corruption charges after an IOPC-directed investigation into allegations that he unlawfully accessed police computer systems and provided information to an organised crime group.
The cases underline why allegations of links between serving officers and organised crime are treated as among the most serious integrity threats facing policing: the concern is not only that an individual officer may break the law, but that access to police powers, information and intelligence can potentially be exploited by criminal networks.
The proceedings against PC Mahmood will now provide an opportunity for the allegations to be tested before the courts.
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