By Alexander Lawrie
A Police Scotland officer threatened to set fire to his partner鈥檚 mother鈥檚 home and spread vicious lies her step-father was a child molester during a horror campaign of domestic abuse. PC Tariq Mahmood, 45, told the terrified victim he would 鈥渟trangle or stab鈥 her as she slept and threatened to take the couple鈥檚 child away from her. The woman said Mahmood constantly criticised her parenting skills, made derogatory remarks about her clothes and looks and accused of her of dressing to impress other men. She also claimed Mahmood refused to speak to her if she did not have sex with him and only complimented her when she wore traditional Asian clothing during two years of abuse between December 2019 and November 2021. The woman, also a serving police officer at the time, told a court she was so terrified by the brute鈥檚 behaviour after they split she was forced to change the locks at her home and sleep with a metal bar across the front door. Mahmood, from Livingston, West Lothian, denied the allegations but was found guilty of abusing the woman following a five day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year. He was also found guilty of engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive of a second former partner by shouting, swearing and assaulting her, all between April 2019 and February 2022. A Police Scotland chief has now slammed the conduct of the disgraced officer and commended the bravery of the victims for coming forward to report him. Mahmood returned to the capital court for sentencing on Wednesday where Sheriff John Cook said he had committed 鈥渟erious offences鈥 but said there was an alternative to custody. Sheriff Cook sentenced the officer to a two year supervision order and said he must complete 120 hours of unpaid work as punishment. The sheriff also ordered Mahmood to attend sessions with the domestic abuse organisation Up2U and handed out non-harassment orders regarding both women for four years. Defence advocate Edith Forrest KC said her client continued to 鈥渕aintain his denial鈥 to the offences but he wanted to apologise to both victims. Ms Forrest said Mahmood first joined the police in his native Birmingham in 2008 before moving north and transferring to Police Scotland 10 years later. The advocate said he now plans to resign from his position in the force following the convictions. The trial heard from one victim who said she met Mahmood while they were both serving police officers and after forming a relationship she fell pregnant with his child in December 2019. The woman said Mahmood formed an instant hatred of her mother and step-father and had issued a threat to burn down their house and claimed the man was a paedophile. She said when the couple鈥檚 child was born he became 鈥渃ontrolling鈥 and 鈥渦npredictable鈥 and had warned her he had 鈥渕ore parental rights鈥 than her. The woman said: 鈥淚 told him he was coercive and he didn鈥檛 like that at all. I knew he was using [the child] as a control measure and he just wanted me to know [the child] was his. 鈥淗e was shocked I had pointed out that. We were both police officers and both had training in coercive control and domestic abuse.鈥 The woman said Mahmood had also threatened to take the child away from her after the couple had split in September 2021. She said: 鈥淚 took [the child] to my grans house to stop him taking her to Birmingham because he said she would be better off with his family. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure if he was going to take her to Pakistan where he had family. 鈥淚 was terrified he was going to take her and I would never see her again. I was really scared of him.鈥 She said the abuse also involved the police officer constantly mocking her parenting skills and admitted she was left 鈥渢errified鈥 of him after they split up. She told the court: 鈥淗e said he would strangle me or stab me in my sleep, then pass it off as a joke. 鈥淚 was scared of him, really scared of him. I was scared what he was capable of. 鈥淚 was scared I would wake up one day and he would be at the bottom of my bed. He tried to break me when I was at my lowest point.鈥 Chief Superintendent Helen Harrison, of Police Scotland, said: 鈥淢ahmood’s actions go against everything Police Scotland stands for. 鈥極ur thoughts are with the victims and I hope this conviction provides them with some measure of closure. I commend their strength in reporting these crimes and bringing this individual to justice. 鈥淲e understand how difficult it can be to report these kinds of offences, particularly when the perpetrator is a police officer. 鈥淲e want the public to be reassured that all reports are thoroughly investigated, no matter when the offending took place or who is involved. 鈥淎ll officers are bound by our Standards of Professional Behaviour, which apply on and off duty. “Any instance where an officer fails to uphold our standards will be investigated and appropriate action taken.鈥