A Metropolitan Police officer late for work lied that it was because a colleague had sexually assaulted her.
PC Lauren Evans, 34, said she was stopped while driving by the plain-clothes officer in an unmarked car.
She falsely claimed her attacker’s name was “Watson” and innocent PC Alex Watson - who had never met her - was arrested the next day in front of his wife and children as they arrived home from a wedding.
By chance, he had been driving an unmarked car in the area where Evans claimed she’d been attacked.
Evans, from Maidstone, Kent, was sentenced to 12 months in prison on March 2 after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court in December.
Judge Martin Griffith said it was “all through a simple lie told in circumstances which must have had something to do with being late”.
A misconduct hearing found that Evans - attached to the South Area Basic Command Unit in London covering Bromley, Croydon and Sutton - should be dismissed without notice.
PC Watson spent 23 hours in custody before 30 detectives spent a total of 1,500 hours on the case to work out she was lying.
The Sun reported he said in a statement: “To make up an allegation of this nature I find disgraceful. I was treated like a violent criminal.”
PC Watson added he and his wife - who together served 30 years in the Met - “felt betrayed and let down by the organisation”.
Evans, who did not attend the disciplinary hearing, maintained in a written response that the stop took place, adding that she “categorically did not allege sexual assault”.
The misconduct hearing found Evans was “fully culpable for her actions” and the conviction was “self-evidently very serious”.
She was also added to the College of Policing Barred List, meaning she will not be able to work in other forces.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cutler, from the Met's Anti-Abuse and Corruption Command, said: "Officers should act with integrity at all times and lying about such a serious allegation is completely unacceptable.
“It undermines the work that takes place across the Met every day to support victims of sexual offences and it will not be tolerated.
“This has been a complex investigation which started following an allegation against another officer. This allegation was investigated thoroughly and we found no evidence that the incident had taken place.”
