Officer on misconduct charge

A police officer has appeared in court charged with misconduct by passing on information from a national police database.

Pc Ghazi Kassin, 52, from Hounslow, west London, was remanded in custody on Thursday by Bow Street Magistrates.

The officer, a member of the youth offending team based in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, was arrested on Wednesday by members of the Metropolitan Police's Anti-Corruption Command.

Pc Kassin is alleged to have received money for making an unauthorised check through the Police National Computer and passing on information to a foreign embassy official between February and July 2003.

He has been suspended from duty following a police investigation.

The 52-year-old is due to return to Bow Street Magistrates' Court on 24 July.