PC Farhan Ghadiali, of Woodford Green, Essex, was dismissed without notice earlier this month by the force - and has been warned he may find it "very difficult" to secure future employment.

The 44-year-old was found guilty of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13 following an earlier trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Prosecutor Kate Davey said the victim had been "traumatised at every level", "cries a lot, she's very scared" and has "self-harmed because of this".

She told a hearing at the same court on Wednesday that Ghadiali, who had no previous convictions, "had been drinking heavily that day".

Orla Davy, mitigating, said: "This was absolutely a one-off incident.

"It was a brief incident and it was an incident of touching over the victim's clothing."

Judge Christopher Morgan told Ghadiali: "This was a serious offence against a very young child."

He said the offence had "caused her profound psychological issues".

The judge said Ghadiali's conviction had brought his police career to an end, adding: "You may find it very difficult to find employment in future."

He sentenced Ghadiali to 30 months in prison and made him subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

The defendant showed no visible reaction as he was led to the cells.

Ghadiali, who was attached to the central west command unit, had been suspended from duty since December 2020.

He was dismissed without notice after a misconduct hearing found that allegations against him were proven as gross misconduct.