A Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) who passed confidential information to a crime suspect linked to a machete attack in which a man had a hand hacked off faces a prison term.
Alice Dobson, 31, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice at the conclusion of a trial at Bradford Crown Court on Friday (November 6). She was convicted of obtaining and disseminating confidential information held by West Yorkshire Police.
She was found guilty of sharing information about the machete attack with a man later accused, with others, of having carried it out.
Guilty verdicts in conspiracy to murder trial
That man, Rahees Khan, was today found guilty with four others of conspiracy to murder the two victims who were attacked.
Dobson was arrested last year after an investigation by West Yorkshire Police's Counter Corruption Unit.
She is said to have "abused her position in the most serious way" by divulging information.
Details of the breach
During the trial Dobson's actions were described as "a flagrant breach of her role within West Yorkshire Police" and that for some criminals in the BD3 postcode "she was the inside guy".
Her behaviour allegedly spanned months last year and involved accessing files related to the machete attack in May 2025 as well as an earlier incident in March, which is said to have spawned the coordinated revenge attack involving bladed weapons.
The victims of the machete attack were Mohammed Zayad Khan and Mohammed Usamah Khan.
Five men — Mohammed Waqqas Khan, 38, of Folkestone Street, Bradford; Rahees Khan, 43, of no fixed abode but formerly of Granton Street, Bradford; Hanzalah Saladin, 27, of no fixed abode, Bradford; Adam Takolia, 29, of no fixed abode, Bradford; and another who cannot be named for legal reasons — faced trial charged with conspiracy to murder.
Trial details and sentencing
All five were found guilty on Friday of conspiracy to murder both victims by His Honour Judge Jonathan Rose. In addition, Rahees Khan, with Dobson, 31, was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
During the trial prosecutor Stephen Wood KC outlined how Dobson accessed multiple police files related to the attack on Rizwan and, later, the horrific machete attack on Zayad and Usamah.
Jurors heard that while opening confidential logs Dobson was on the phone to her then-partner, Fazal Mohammed who, in turn, called Rahees Khan.
Dobson was said to have taken photographs of the logs on her police computer. On one occasion she was not even on duty when she logged into the police system to access files.
The trial, which began in July, was paused in August when the jury was discharged amid an allegation of jury tampering.
When the trial resumed Judge Rose took the decision to continue without a jury and he alone decided on the verdicts.
He said today that he expects to pass "substantial" sentences for conspiracy to murder on February 8 next year but Dobson's sentencing for her "extremely serious" offence may not take place on the same date.
She was granted conditional bail but ordered to surrender her passport to obviate flight risk.
