A jilted police officer made fake calls to blame an innocent former girlfriend for a string of crimes – including murder and drug dealing, a court heard.
PC Abubakar Masum, 24, rang Crimestoppers to wrongly accuse old flame Mia Pitman, 23, of being linked to the criminal underworld.
A court heard Masum’s calls led to armed police raiding her home looking for a Glock handgun – and questioning her over a planned murder.
Innocent Mia was arrested at her student job in a Tesco store in Swansea Marina while another 20 officers rifled through her home in the gun hunt.
Prosecutor William Hughes QC said Masum developed an ‘obsession’ with university student Mia after they met in a nightclub.
A jilted police officer made fake calls to blame an innocent former girlfriend for a string of crimes – including murder and drug dealing, a court heard. PC Abubakar Masum (pictured), 24, rang Crimestoppers to wrongly accuse old flame Mia Pitman, 23, of being linked to the criminal underworld
A jury was told Masum and Mia’s brief relationship ended when she learned he had a girlfriend.
But he then allegedly began to make a series of ‘false, untrue and malicious’ claims against her and workmate Leon Croucher.
Mr Hughes said in one call Masum reported: ‘Mia Pitman is storing is a handgun on behalf of Leon Croucher. He is a known Class A drug dealer.’
The anonymous call to Crimestoppers went on to say Mia and Mr Croucher ‘planned to shoot’ a man who allegedly owed them drug money.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Mia and Mr Croucher were arrested mid-shift by armed police while working at the Tesco store in Swansea Marina.
Another 20 armed officers raided her student home to look for a gun after the bogus anonymous tip-off.
A court heard Masum’s calls led to armed police raiding the home of Mia Pitman (pictured) looking for a Glock handgun – and questioning her over a planned murder
Mia was said to be ‘extremely upset’ about the raid and left to stay with her mother for several days.
The court heard she later messaged PC Masum about it on Snapchat.
Mr Hughes said: ‘She had no inkling he was responsible or had any connection to the activity that had affected her or her friends.’
Mr Hughes said Masum went on to make seven more calls over a five month period in 2020 with various claims including Mia had a Glock handgun buried in her back garden.
The court he claimed that she even murdered an Albanian gangster.
Mr Hughes said the final call reported Mia was at the centre of a drugs feud between criminals known as the Harris brothers and an Albanian drugs gang and had a gun.
He said: ‘Mia Pitman used the firearm to shoot an Albanian. He was shot in the leg and placed in a green van, possibly a Transit.
‘She has posted about it on SnapChat that they dumped the body in the sea in Rhossilli.’
The court heard Swansea-based Masum’s first call to Crimestoppers was to report a man called Tom Evans – a former boyfriend of Mia’s – for attacking him in a nightclub after they had a row.
Mr Hughes said Mr Evans admitted ‘clipping’ Masum with a punch in the Friction nightclub in Swansea after they were ‘winding each other up’ and was given a community resolution.
But Masum was allegedly disappointed with Mr Evans’ sanction so called Crimestoppers to say he was planning an acid attack against him.
The court heard an investigation was launched into Masum after police began to suspect the repeated calls to Crimestoppers were ‘malicious’.
Mr Hughes said detectives realised some of the information in the reports would only have been made available to serving South Wales Police officers or members of the criminal underworld.
After being arrested Masum admitted making all of the calls but said they had been made ‘in good faith’ from real posts he witnessed on Mia’s Snapchat.
He said: ‘He felt he had to make the reports because he feared for his own safety.’
Innocent Mia was arrested at her student job in a Tesco store in Swansea Marina while another 20 officers rifled through her home in the gun hunt
But Masum’s fellow South Wales Police officers found no evidence she was involved in any criminality and charged Masum with perverting the course of justice.
He said: ‘Some 200 hours of police time have been taken up by these false reports to Crimestoppers.
‘Innocent members of the public, Mia Pitman, Leon Croucher and Mia Pitman’s three housemates have been had to endure a upsetting, humiliating and ultimately frightening ordeal.
‘Tom Evans was arrested and placed in custody for nine hours as a result of information placed to Crimestoppers, all are examples of perverting the course of justice.
‘The content of each of these reports was false and untrue and had serious repercussions for those named by him.’
Masum, of Swansea, denies two counts of perverting the course of justice and unauthorised access of a police computer after allegedly making searches about Leon Croucher.
The trial in front of Judge Michael Fitton continues at Cardiff Crown Court.
