Lawyer slams the 'racist' police she works for

Outspoken Sophie Khan has alarmed some offi cers with her Twitter blasts which branded them anti-Muslim and called for the Government’s anti-terrorist Prevent strategy to be ditched.

Yet she is now an unpaid volunteer on the national undercover scrutiny panel, alongside high-ranking police officers, representatives from the Crown Prosecution Service and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

The panel was established following public disquiet about undercover offi cers having sex with women who belonged to groups they were infiltrating.

The body, chaired by Chief Constable Alex Marshall will publish a report in January which will go to the College of Policing, which approached her to join the panel, where senior offi cers and experts will consider whether the fi ndings should be introduced operationally in forces across England and Wales.

Ms Khan once tweeted: “The most anti-Muslim people I have come across are policemen and women. The police service is still the racist organisation it was in 70s.”

The Metropolitan Police Federation at the time hit back, saying: “How will your absurd & obnoxious comments go down with the many Muslim officers serving their communities?”

When Asim Qureshi, of controversial pressure group Cage, claimed last month that Isis killer Jihadi John was radicalised by UK security services, Ms Khan urged her Twitter followers to consider the arguments in his article: “How the Government makes you into a terrorist without ever arresting you.” day later, she said: ‘‘Prevent programme is a cloak for racism. A programme designed to racially discriminate against Muslims. Where is the anti-Prevent campaign?”

Former Special Branch detective Chris Hobbs said he was “disgusted” by her allegations of racism and said her views were “completely unfounded”. Ms Khan claimed she agreed to sit on the panel to highlight discrimination.

She said: “I am not anti-police. My role is to highlight discriminatory policies and procedures which are harming certain members of the community.”

Over her Cage tweets, she said: “I have a right to tweet and suggest people read articles. I do not regard Cage as a mainstream organisation.”

She insisted she was fully supported by senior serving offi cers who appreciated her advice.

Ms Khan is a solicitor advocate at the Leicester-based Police Action Centre, a charitable organisation which provides free legal advice to people who want to take action against the police or other state bodies.

Its website states: “Over the years there has been an increased focus on the standard of British policing, especially since the shooting of Mark Duggan, the riots and the advent of police and crime commissioners.”

An inquest has ruled that gangster Mr Duggan was lawfully killed by officers. He threw away a gun when stopped by police.