A paedophile police officer who raped a teenage girl was named as a suspect in three cases before he was appointed to the force, it has emerged.

Ian Naude, 30, was a serving police constable when he was arrested in November 2017 following a report of the rape and sexual assault of the 13-year-old, who he met after being called to a domestic incident at her house.

The father-of-one, who groomed teenage girls online, had been due to join Cheshire Police as a student officer in January 2017.

The force said the recruitment process was put on hold following an allegation he had raped a woman in Staffordshire.

But, when no further action was taken in the case, a decision was made by the vetting department to allow the process to continue and Naude was appointed to the force in April that year.

When police began to investigate Naude following his arrest, they found he had also been a named suspect in two child grooming allegations which were reported to Staffordshire Police and West Mercia Police in January and February 2017.

Those two reports became part of the Cheshire Police investigation into Naude, which saw him plead guilty to 30 charges, including inciting children to engage in sexual activity and making indecent photos of children, and found guilty of rape, sexual assault and five offences relating to arranging the commission of a child sexual offence.