A disgraced police officer has been sentenced to four months in prison after being found guilty of assaulting two young men in custody.

Paul Ions, 29, of Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, was caught on security camera punching 22-year-old Paul Longstaff after he was attacked in the custody room of Hartlepool police station on October 12, last year.

He was also found guilty of punching teenager Adnan Asif in the face while he waited in the holding room of Stockton police station in September, last year.

Deputy District Judge Sandra Keen sentenced Ions to three months for the assault on Mr Longstaff and one month, to run consecutively, for the assault on Mr Asif.

She said: "Any unjustified force used by a police officer during the course of his duties is unacceptable. No officer can use force against a prisoner."

The officer is currently suspended by Cleveland Police.