Law enforcer to help shape justice in Afghanistan

A DETECTIVE who enforced the law in his home town of Keighley is to help shape justice on the far side of the world.

Det Insp John Mountain is to exchange Keighley for the district of Lashkar Gah in Helmand, Aghanistan, after taking up a one year secondment with the UK’s Stabilisation Unit to train police officers there.

The Keighley-born officer will join the UK Provincial Reconstruction Team for twelve months and will be a mentor and advisor to the Afghan national police.

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Mr Mountain, a father of three, said: “I’m now nearing the end of my police service and, at 50 years old, see this as my final challenge in a policing environment.

“I would like to experience a different culture and pass on the lessons and skills that I have learned from my background in the police to colleagues over there in Helmand Province.”

The post will not be the first foreign experience for Mr Mountain who served in the Royal Marines for nine years including tours of duty in Northern Ireland and the Falklands where he saw action during the 1982 conflict.

On leaving the armed forces in 1990, he retrained as a police officer and worked across Bradford District before transferring to Halifax.

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He became a Det Inspector in Airedale and North Bradford in 2006 and has since supervised a number of major investigations including prosecutions of Keighley gang members and a crash for cash insurance fraud ring.

He said he was expecting a real change of pace from the role but one attraction was being able to help set up the infrastructure of an area.

“There will be particular challenges that come with the job but I am keen to play my part in establishing many things we take for granted here in the West such as our style of justice system,” he added.

The Stabilisation Unit is responsible for recruiting and deploying serving police officers to be seconded to international missions and currently has 36 serving police officers deployed to Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Georgia, Palestine and Kosovo.

With a return back to West Yorkshire on the cards following the end of his detachment, Mr Mountain added that being back working with former colleagues would be a perfect end to his service.