A serving police officer found guilty of assaulting a man accused of failing to pay bus fare will spend Christmas behind bars after being jailed for three months.

Pc Neville Bridgewood, of West Midlands Police, was convicted after a two-day trial at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court last month, the force said.

The 39-year-old was found guilty of an assault during an altercation on a bus outside Bilston station, near Wolverhampton, on September 26.

Bridgewood was among several officers who responded to a panic alarm triggered on the bus.

A man had allegedly failed to pay the fare, and during the incident the male was pushed by Bridgewood, falling to the floor and cutting his leg in the process.

Bridgewood, a neighbourhood officer who had been on non-public facing duties since the decision to charge him earlier this year, has now been suspended pending the outcome of a force misconduct hearing, set to be held in due course.

Following sentencing, a West Midlands Police spokesman said: “We expect the highest standards of conduct from our officers and will bring to justice those who fall below that standard including bringing criminal charges.”