John McAnenny was convicted of drug smuggling by a court in the French port of Boulogne.

McAnenny, 47, from Birmingham, was sacked by West Midlands Police in June after admitting discreditable conduct.

In January McAnenny, a constable, was arrested with another man on board a yacht in Calais after the pair made an abortive attempt to sail across the English Channel.

French customs officials said the boat was loaded with 200kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of £1m.

The second man, Robert Lang, 40, from Rednal, Birmingham, was jailed for four years for his part in the plot to smuggle drugs into the UK.

Experienced drug smuggler

McAnenny, who is married with two children, admitted making four previous "drug runs" in the three years before his arrest.

BBC Midlands Today's Home Affairs Correspondent, Peter Wilson, said McAnenny told the court he had been an "absolute prat".

He said: "Lang said he had been weak-willed and greedy. His arrest had made a huge impact on his life and he asked for compassion from the court."

McAnenny said he had made £85,000 from the proceeds of drugs smuggling but "bitterly regretted letting his family down".

French and UK customs officers believe McAnenny's fourth drugs run would have been his last and he would have retired on the profits if he had not been caught.

Banned from France

Judge Louis Bray also forbade McAnenny from entering France for 10 years after his sentence is completed.

A friend of McAnenny's said hearing of his arrest was like "hearing Father Christmas had been lifted for house-breaking".

Customs investigator Bernard Homan said McAnenny was hard to catch because he knew how detectives worked and was regarded as an "intelligent, highly professional" officer by his colleagues.

He told the BBC: "We had to be extremely careful who we spoke to in the police service. Fortunately West Midlands Police co-operated fully by allowing us to speak to one specific team who we knew could be trusted totally."