A serving police officer at the centre of an undercover probe into the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal has died after being hit by a car, The Star can exclusively reveal.
PC Hassan Ali had been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission after it was alleged he twice asked a Rotherham sexual exploitation victim out on a date.
After a lengthy investigation over a number of months, The Star discovered four complaints were made against PC Ali to South Yorkshire Police by two members of the public.
The Star agreed to hold off on exposing his alleged involvement in the scandal after police advised us they were mounting an operation to monitor the officer.
But today it has emerged PC Ali has died in a road crash.
The PC, aged 44, was left fighting for life after being struck by a car on Staniforth Road, Darnall, Sheffield.
He was crossing the street at around 10.15pm last Wednesday when he was involved in the collision.
He died in hospital this morning, with relatives at his bedside.
Chief Constable David Crompton, of South Yorkshire Police, said: “All of our thoughts are with Hassan’s family and on behalf of the force I would like to offer my sincere condolences at this incredibly difficult time.
“PC Ali was a well-liked officer whose colleagues are devastated by what has happened.”
PC Ali was a neighbourhood policing officer based in Rotherham.
The Star understands had been placed on ‘restricted duties’, while the IPCC assessed whether to launch a full investigation into him.
One of the complainants, who is now an adult, said PC Ali had first asked her out when she was 17 and then did so again four years later when she was 21.
The woman said the officer had been involved with her case and was aware she had been a victim of sustained abuse between the ages of 14 and 17.
At the time he first asked her on a date, she had a one-year-old son, who had been born after she was made pregnant by her abuser when she was 15.
The woman said the officer’s behaviour had been ‘inappropriate and totally unprofessional’.
She said she told the police of his approaches in August 2013 when she gave a statement about the abuse she had suffered - but she claimed nothing was done to investigate her claims.
She said she had seen the officer in his police uniform and on duty a few months ago.
South Yorkshire Police last month confirmed an officer had been referred to the IPCC.
A spokesman said: “South Yorkshire Police has received four public complaints relating to alleged misconduct of one of our officers.
“The complaints were made by two separate people about the officer, a PC based in the Rotherham area.
“The force has referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.”
The woman said she had asked the officer when she was a teenager to provide her with a picture of her son’s father for his nursery.
“He said I will get you a picture but you are not to tell anyone because I could lose my job,” she said.
“He said he had to go into files that he wasn’t authorised to go into. Then he fetched me the picture to my mum and dad’s house. He came in and my mum made him a drink.
“I walked out with him and he asked me out on a date.
“A few years after he asked me out again.”
She said she had said no on both occasions.
“It was inappropriate. He was a police officer who knew that I was being abused. It is totally unprofessional.”
The nature of the other complaints made against him are not known.
