A DISGRACED police officer is set to face a misconduct hearing later this month.

PC Ihsan Ali was jailed for two years last month after being found guilty on four counts of misconduct in public office.

Following a seven-day trial at Preston Crown Court, Judge Mark Brown, the Honorary Recorder of Preston, told Ali that his ‘campaign of grooming and manipulative conduct for a sexual purpose’ had damaged the reputation of Lancashire Police and undermined the public’s trust in it.

Ali, who worked as an immediate response officer in Blackburn and Burnley until his arrest and subsequent suspension last year, now faces an internal misconduct hearing on March 16. If he is found guilty he will be formally dismissed from the force.

During the trial the jury was told how 40-year-old Ali initially went to the homes of his four female victims to legitimately investigate complaints they had made about crimes committed against them.

But in each case Ali, of Cotman Close, Bacup, gave them his personal mobile phone number and began sending them inappropriate texts with the intention of developing ‘emotional or sexual relationships’.