A POLICEMAN'S career is in ruins after he was found guilty of fraudulent use of a car insurance certificate.

PC Shahid Ahmed, aged 25, of Lindrick Terrace, Bolton, tried to dupe senior colleagues by passing off the certificate as genuine.

Officers discovered the certificate was made out by a company which had not traded for five years - and it had a different make of car listed on it.

Ahmed, who was based at Leigh, originally pleaded not guilty to the offence, but was convicted by a jury of possessing a document with intent to deceive.

And following the conviction, he resigned from his job with Greater Manchester Police.

On Monday at Minshull Street Crown Court, he was ordered to complete 200 hours' Community Punishment and was fined £1,000.

Passing sentence, Judge Stuart Fish told him: "It is a matter of considerable regret that I am called upon to sentence you today.

"It is not regret that the jury came to what was a proper decision but regret that you're somebody who had set out upon a career which was designed to serve the public and you have brought that crashing to the ground by very ill-judged behaviour.

"Your career is now at an end and you have lost not only that but to some extent the admiration of your family and associates.

"You made a series of very ill-judged decisions."

Ahmed - who joined Greater Manchester Police in 2003 - produced the invalid certificate at Leigh police station after he was stopped at the wheel of a car on the M62 near Manchester.

He was pulled up by traffic officers after being spotted in his mother's Ford Probe without a tax disc.

At the roadside, Ahmed produced a valid disc from the car's glove compartment and was then questioned about the vehicle's insurance

The next day he was asked to produce the document by his sergeant, but failed to do so.

The following week he appeared in front of his Chief Inspector and handed over the invalid certificate.

The court heard how Ahmed was quizzed by Chief Inspector Sargeson about the certificate and was then arrested and interviewed by other officers.

At an earlier hearing, Ahmed claimed he had no concerns about the document.

In mitigation, Miss Charlotte Holland said: "He is a young man who worked very hard to get his job and his family were extremely proud of him."Their devastation is described as quite palpable."

Outside court, a spokesman for GMP said: "PC Ahmed tendered his resignation last week. PC Ahmed, who was a serving police officer at the time of the events, had been suspended from duty pending the outcome of the proceedings."