THIS is rogue cop Jason Livesey, who faces jail for attacking an innocent man with his baton in Accrington town centre and then lying about the incident under oath.

A jury took 11 hours to return a 10-2 majority guilty verdict on charges of assault, perjury and perverting the course of justice.

PC Livesey, 33, was told by Judge Anthony Russell QC: "You have been convicted on compelling evidence and you know that the sentence must be one of imprisonment."

Livesey, who has served with Lancashire Constabulary for seven years, was working at Accrington Police Station at the time of the late-night incident in June 2003.

He was later transferred to other duties as a football intelligence officer.

The force said in a statement that he will now face internal misconduct proceedings and a meeting to consider suspending him was due to take place yesterday (Thurs).

The eight-day Preston Crown Court trial heard that Livesey carried out an "unprovoked, unnecessary and unlawful" attack on Lee Sayers who was enjoying a night on the town.

Livesey was chatting to two attractive mini-skirted women, who were leaning into his patrol car, when Mr Sayers and a group of friends approached as they walked from pub to pub.

There was some horseplay and a friend pushed Mr Sayers into the women as a joke.

He apologised and tried to walk on but Livesey got out of the car in an aggressive manner and struck Mr Sayers up to five times with his baton.

The prosecution said he just lost his temper and was determined not to lose face in front of the women.

He later arrested Mr Sayers for threatening behaviour and assault, even though the charges were groundless, made a false statement and lied under oath when the case came to court.

But builder Mr Sayers was acquitted at Hyndburn Magistrates' Court in January 2004 and Livesey himself was then investigated.

Livesey claimed in court that he was faced with a very difficult situation and that Mr Sayers was unco-operative and aggressive. He said he had no choice but to use his baton to gain control in a busy street.

He said: "I was fearing violence and I had to get control of the situation very quickly."

His barrister asked him: "Did you deliberately assault Mr Sayers?", "Did you get out of that car to impress those two girls, to take on the big lad?" and: "Were you aggressive to him?"

To each of the questions he replied: "Not at all."

But a horrified woman witness, said she told Livesey he was out of order and he responded with a wink, grinned and said: "Yeah, I know."

Sentence on Livesey, who lives in Walton-le-Dale, was adjourned until 25 April.