A police officer from Hounslow was jailed for 16 years and sacked from the Met for rape.

PC Michael Graham, 49, was convicted of seven counts of rape and one of sexual assault after targeting a vulnerable woman while off-duty.

He was convicted of the offences, which took place between Christmas Eve 2013 and September 2014, at the Old Bailey on June 16.

He was dismissed at a Special Misconduct Hearing on Thursday, August 4.

Police found the victim, a woman in her 30s, in a distressed state in an Uxbridge park after they arrested Graham for common assault on September 2, 2014.

He initially denied all the allegations and declined to answer any questions put to him during interview.

Chief Superintendent Matt Gardner, of the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "Michael Graham targeted a vulnerable woman, and attempted to use his position as a police officer to scare her into keeping quiet about his criminal behaviour.

“The public should be reassured that no police officer can hide behind their occupation as a way to break the law and get away with it.”

He added: “This criminal abused the trust that being a part of the Metropolitan Police is all about. His behaviour is at odds to the thousands of brave men and women of the Met who work hard to keep London safe, support the vulnerable and arrest criminals everyday.”

Assistant commissioner Helen King, lead for professionalism, said after the misconduct hearing: “At a time when much work has been done to improve the confidence of victims to report sexual offences to the police, the negative impact of an officer being convicted of rape and sexual assault in these circumstances is very obvious.

"His actions have very clearly brought the police service into disrepute."