Child sex attack policeman jailed

Lawrence was a heavy drinker

A former Met Police constable has been jailed for two years after admitting indecency charges against boys.

Clifford Lawrence, 43, from Virginia Water, Surrey, pleaded guilty last month to indecent assault against four boys aged under 16.

The judge said the offences were a "very serious breach of trust with families that you befriended".

He also ordered Lawrence, who resigned from the force in February, to sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Three counts of downloading indecent images of children, three of indecent assault and two of indecency to were allowed to lie on file.

"I have no doubt that you will be a serious target in prison Judge Michael Hucker

Judge Michael Hucker, at Kingston Crown Court, also issued an indefinite banning order to stop him working with children.

He described Lawrence's position for the rest of his life as "catastrophic" and warned him: "I have no doubt that you will be a serious target in prison."

The court heard some of Lawrence's victims were abused at his flat while he showed them pornographic videos.

Some of Lawrence's victims told how they would wake up during the night to find Lawrence, a heavy drinker, performing lewd acts upon them.

'Lonely man'

Lawrence's abuse came to light when one of his former victims spoke of his ordeal to a doctor who persuaded him to tell his parents.

Defending Lawrence, Justin Rouse said Lawrence took "full responsibility" for his actions and described him as "a broken and lonely man".

A psychiatrist had observed of Lawrence that "he struggled to suffocate the demon of paedophilic tendencies with alcohol", Mr Rouse said.

Despite Lawrence admitting the charges, Mr Rouse added that he had "a real empathy" with the youngsters he had worked with.

Some of his offences dated back to the mid-1980s.