A SERVING East Lancashire police officer and former Commonwealth Games middle distance runner is set to appear in court accused of voyeurism.

PC Jayson Lobo, who lives in Blackburn, is accused of 17 offences of voyeurism which were allegedly committed against eight women.

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He will appear at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday to answer the charges.

Lobo, 46, who worked as a response officer in Preston before his arrest and subsequent suspension in December, also had stints in Burnley, Colne and Haslingden.

The incidents allegedly took place in a three and a half year period between 2011 and 2015, with 16 of the 17 offences committed in Blackburn.

A Lancashire police spokesman sad: “Jayson Lobo, 46, of Blackburn, is accused of 17 offences of voyeurism, contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

“The offences were allegedly committed against eight female victims on dates between December 2011 and May 2015.

“All except one of the alleged offences was committed at an address in Blackburn.

“Lobo was arrested in December 2015 and reported for summons when he answered his bail on May 17.

“He was suspended following his arrest last December. He worked in the south of the division.”

Lobo was also due to face a misconduct hearing today (Monday) over allegations that he sent electronic communications to third parties on numerous occasions, which contained details and/or images of police incidents, and commentary on those incidents.

However, that hearing has been postponed due to the criminal proceedings.

A new date for that two-day hearing has yet to be announced.

Lobo is a former Common-wealth Games middle distance runner, who is a life member of Blackburn Harriers according to its website. He also competed for Great Britain in various 800m events.

Lobo was last in the headlines in 2007 when he settled a racial discrimination suit with Lancashire Police out of court.

That related to a £450,000 three-year misconduct hearing which concluded that he had mistakenly claimed £90 in expenses.

Lobo had been suspended in September 2003 after claims of an alleged expenses fiddle while he was on secondment to the Immigration Service at its Manchester headquarters.

A criminal investigation was launched but he was cleared of 12 counts of false accounting and one of attempting to pervert the course of justice when the prosecution offered no evidence at Liverpool Crown Court two years later.

However the Lancashire police pressed ahead with a year-long misconduct investigation into PC Lobo over the matter.

And at a hearing in August 2006 he pleaded guilty to six misconduct charges. But these were admissions of genuine mistakes made on the £90 expense claim and did not cover any dishonest practices.

Bosses fined him seven days’ pay but immediately lifted the suspension to allow him to return to work.