Ex-Leicestershire special constable jailed for fire threats

Shahib Asan, of Leicestershire Police, has been jailed for four years and nine months

A former special constable who threatened to burn down his former family friends' house has been jailed.

Shahib Asan, 23, also sent threatening letters and messages to the family.

He was originally given a 12-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of harassment and perverting the course of justice.

Asan, of Birstall, Leicestershire, has now been jailed for more than four years after the solicitor general appealed the original sentence.

Between August 2016 and August 2018, he sent messages threatening to stab the family, to shoot one of them and burn down their house, a court heard.

The former Leicestershire Police special constable was also caught on camera throwing paint stripper over the family's car.

When police investigated, he claimed the messages were sent by someone who hacked his computer and was attempting to frame him.

Lady Justice Sharp said it was "difficult to comprehend" how a crown court judge had decided on the suspended sentence.

Mental torture

At the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday, Asan was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison after the solicitor general's appeal.

Lady Justice Sharp said: "In our view these (offences) merited a custodial sentence of some length, as they were serious, persistent, sophisticated and caused grave harm to the victims.

"The offender had deliberately subjected this family to a degree of mental torture over a prolonged period of time."

Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC said the original sentence had been "unduly lenient".

Asan was found guilty of harassment in February at Leicester Crown Court and previously admitted criminal damage, harassment and two counts of perverting the course of justice.

He also pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possessing a weapon for the discharge of a noxious liquid.