A serving police officer, who tried to frame a council street sweeper - who ticked him of about hedge cuttings – as a predatory paedophile, has been jailed.
Hitesh Lakhani, 42, did not like the Hillingdon Council employee warning him about littering the street with his garden trimmings so hatched a plan to destroy his life.
He had been gardening at an Uxbridge address on September 5, 2018 while off-duty.
The PC, based at the Central West Command Unit, claimed the street sweeper lured a five year-old girl into bushes.
He took an image of the man, which was circulated by police during an appeal, insisting he saw the man place the girl's hand between his legs.
Lakhani was convicted at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court of perverting the course of justice and received three years imprisonment.
A neighbour's CCTV images proved he was lying and had fabricated the report.
“This was wicked, prolonged and cruel conduct,” said Judge Jonathan Davies. “Had Mr. Lakhani's evidence not been covered by CCTV this man would have been arrested and remanded in custody.
“You were a police officer, who would normally be calm and professional,” the judge told the disgraced cop.
“This was not 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.”
The fake story was maintained for weeks by Lakhani and he fought the charge.
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