Drunk cop wins conviction appeal after being thrown out of club

A drunk off-duty cop who flashed his badge while being kicked out of a western Sydney club for rubbing his crotch and poking out his tongue at women, has successfully appealed his conviction after breaking into tears in court. WATCH THE CCTV FOOTAGE.

A drunk off-duty cop who flashed his badge while being kicked out of a western Sydney club for rubbing his crotch and poking out his tongue at women, has successfully appealed his conviction.

Senior constable Ahmad Jamal Ghoriani’s marriage had failed and his mother was terminally ill when he began drinking heavily at Rooty Hills RSL on the night of October 28, 2017.

A 30-year-old woman at the club with her husband noticed Ghoriani, 41, staring at her, licking his lips and playing with his groin outside of his shorts in the poker machine room shortly after midnight. He was using his other hand to play one of the machines.

Senior constable Ahmad Jamal Ghoriani had been drinking heavily at Rooty Hills RSL.

The off-duty officer was seen rubbing his crotch.

The woman told police Ghoriani, who is suspended from his job at Auburn police, was “not just scratching but really rubbing”, according to a statement of agreed facts.

The woman moved away to prevent her husband getting into a fight with Ghoriani.

A short time later he stuck his tongue out at a 44-year-old woman, saying “Oi” as he rubbed his groin.

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She moved to a different poker machine but Ghoriani sat down next to her, saying “look, look” as he rubbed his crotch and groaned.

At 3am, as the venue manager escorted him out, Ghoriani pulled out his police badge.

Senior constable Ahmad Jamal Ghoriani appealed his conviction.

Senior constable Ahmad Jamal Ghoriani watches a woman at the RSL.

The manager said “are you now threatening me or trying to intimidate me for doing my job?”

Ghoriani broke into tears at one point during evidence in his appeal hearing at Penrith District Court on Tuesday and said: “It makes me sick because that is out of character for me.

“That’s not how I was brought up.”

He pleaded guilty and was convicted in October on two counts of behave in an offensive manner.

He told the appeal hearing before Judge Stephen Hanley, “having a criminal conviction will absolutely destroy any chance of” furthering his career in law enforcement or in the correctives service.

Police Commissioner Mick Fuller had “lost confidence” in Ghoriani. Picture: AAP Image/Brendan Esposito

The court heard Police Commissioner Mick Fuller had “lost confidence” in Ghoriani, however an internal panel of senior officers was still deciding on the future of his career.

Prosecutors insisted the offences deserved a conviction, given Ghoriani followed one of the women from one poker machine to another and came to within a metre of her.

Judge Hanley said Ghoriani effectively threatened staff by pulling out his police badge but decided to set aside the conviction.

He said “coming from war-torn Afghanistan”, Ghoriani had overcome the atrocities of his past to be accepted into to the NSW Police and raise a family.

“All that is potentially, possibly lost,” Judge Hanley said.

He imposed a six-month conditional release order for each of the offences.