A Met Police officer who falsely accused a council street cleaner of sexually assaulting a child after a row over his hedge trimmings has been jailed for three years.

PC Hitesh Lakhani, 42, called the 101 police line to make the bogus claim, insisting he had witnessed a man luring a young girl into the bushes and forcing her to touch him.

He offered up a picture of the man he was accusing, which was circulated online in a bid to catch the supposed predator, and Lakhani gave a statement to officers to back up his story.

However Kingston crown court heard the officer had made up the allegation after being admonished by a Hillingdon Council street cleaner over hedge clippings which had fallen into the street.

Sentencing this morning, Judge Jonathan Davies said Lakhani’s determination to maintain the bogus story had put the street cleaner at risk of being imprisoned.

“This was wicked, prolonged and cruel conduct”, he said. "Had Mr Lakhani's evidence not been covered by CCTV this man would have been arrested and remanded in custody.

"He never did back down and this calls in to question other cases where he has given evidence.”

Sentencing the PC to three years in prison for perverting the course of justice, he added: “You were a police officer who would normally be calm and professional.

"This wasn’t spontaneous, you planned this. You have damaged the credibility of police officers generally and cases you have been a part of may need to be re-examined."

Lakhani maintained his fake story for weeks, and was convicted of perverting the course of justice after a trial.

“This was a baseless accusation against a hard-working man by a serving police officer”, said David Davies, from the CPS.

“Hitesh Lakhani called 101 alleging he had witnessed a sexual assault that he knew did not happen.

"This was a spiteful act over a disagreement about hedge trimmings in his front garden spilling on to the street.

“A police investigation found no trace of sexual crimes being reported in the vicinity, various inaccuracies in Lakhani’s account and CCTV evidence from a neighbouring house, which proved the sexual assault could not have happened.

“The most worrying aspect of this case was that Lakhani, as a police officer, presented as a credible witness to a serious allegation where there was an identified suspect.

"The implications for this victim could have been profound, but we were able to prove Lakhani’s account was entirely fictional and unfounded.

“I hope this prosecution serves as a reminder that nobody is above the law.”

Lakhani made the false claim on September 5, 2018 while off-duty and doing some gardening.

He told officers he had seen a man luring a five-year-old girl away from her mother and into bushes, where he claimed to have seen the man pulling his shorts down and placing the girl’s hand on himself.

Lakhani suggested the sexual assault had been interrupted by calls from the girl’s mother, but he had confronted the man and taken his picture. The image was then posted on Hillingdon Police’s social media feed with an appeal to help catch the man.

However, CCTV from a neighbouring home proved that the story was invented and a sexual assault could not have happened as Lakhani claimed.

The officer denied the charge at trial but was found guilty by a jury.

Lakhani, from Southall, has been on restricted duties while awaiting his trial, and now faces a misconduct hearing and possibly the end of his police career.