CCTV images identified 10 children aged between six and 11 who were involved in the incident.

Simon Hurwood "coerced" vulnerable junior female police colleagues into sex over a 14-year period.

After initial back and forth with the Independent Office for Police Conduct, it was determined Cleveland Police would be best placed to investigate.

On 2 March, just under two months after the anonymous email, Mr Hurwood was arrested for sexual assault offences. Later that day he was released under investigation and suspended from duty.

But there was not enough evidence to proceed with a criminal prosecution or misconduct in public office charges, Det Ch Insp John Wrintmore, who led the investigation, said, adding: "I am disappointed we have not been able to pursue that."

Mr Hurwood's conduct was investigated as a major incident.

Investigators trawled through thousands of messages and emails to build their case.

Det Ch Insp Wrintmore could not give an exact figure but said one of the women had more than 2,500 emails - all sent from Mr Hurwood's work account - which investigators had to look through.

He said on paper it was the same scale as a manslaughter investigation.

Daryll Rowe was the first man in the country to be found guilty of setting out to spread the virus.

Peter Harris
BBC Look North

The Cleveland Police disciplinary panel has concluded former Det Insp Simon Hurwood, 53, would have been dismissed without notice if he'd still been serving.

His name will be added to a barred list at the College of Policing.

In total 17 women had complaints upheld.

Det Insp Simon Hurwood joined Cleveland Police in February 1991.

In June 2003 he was promoted to sergeant and in October 2014 became a detective inspector for the force's Professional Standards Department, the unit meant to investigate alleged police officer misconduct.

It was shortly after his first promotion that the messages began, with Det Ch Insp Wrintmore saying: "There is strong indication he has taken advantage of his position of seniority".

There were times when he was the acting deputy head of the standards department before he left for neighbourhood policing in April 2016.

In 2011 he and a colleague won an award for their "relentless pursuit", external of a sex attacker who assaulted two women in Middlesbrough.

Other high profile cases includedt wo teenage burglars who raped a woman in 2006 and a murderer who beat a neighbour to death, external.

Mr Hurwood resigned in September this year.

Mr Hurwood denies any wrong-doing.

Although he did not attend the hearing and was unrepresented, he provided written responses in which he said all sexual activity was consensual and happened while off-duty.

In a number of the cases he said the women instigated the messages.

Some of the claims he dismissed as "cruel nonsense," others he called lies.

In interviews, Mr Hurwood sought to "portray himself as the victim with lacerating criticisms against some of the complainants", the misconduct panel was told by John Beggs QC, who represented Cleveland Police.

"Even when faced with overwhelming evidence to suggest the contrary, he maintained he had done nothing wrong and sought sympathy," Mr Beggs said.

Mr Beggs said Mr Hurwood's response could be summed up with one comment he made, which was: "The only mistake I have made is helping the majority of these people at some of the most difficult times of their lives.

"Most of them are lying."

Detective Simon Hurwood spent 14 years targeting vulnerable colleagues for sex but how was he exposed?

Peter Harris
BBC Look North

The panel added members of staff at Cleveland Police knew about 53-year-old Hurwood's behaviour but it was not properly challenged until 2018 and reports of his behaviour resulted in no action against him.

Hurwood had "laughed off" allegations put to him.

His "modus operandi" involved getting the mobile phone number of a vulnerable person he was targeting.

He would send them messages and then discuss sexual issues often asking about the colour of their knickers.

Over the course of 14 years, Simon Hurwood befriended women at work and requested sex.

Some gave him short shrift and he stopped but four attempts escalated into full sexual contact.

The longest relationship lasted months "if not more than a year", according to Det Ch Insp John Wrintmore, who led the investigation (pictured below).

All but one of the women were junior to him and he was the supervisor for some.

But all the episodes were "shocking, troubling and disturbing", according to Mr Wrintmore.

"I was gobsmacked, dumbfounded," he said. "It was quite upsetting."

Detective Inspector Simon Hurwood won much praise for his policing during 27 years of service. But for much of that time he was also targeting vulnerable colleagues for sex. How did it happen and how was it exposed?

One Monday early in January, an anonymous email was sent to Cleveland Police's Counter Corruption Unit (CCU).

Its contents rocked the force to its core and triggered a major internal investigation the same size as a manslaughter inquiry.

And it has now led to the official exposure of a senior officer of 27 years' standing as a man who targeted vulnerable female colleagues for "his own sexual purposes".

A disciplinary hearing in Middlesbrough has upheld eight allegations of gross misconduct and eight more of misconduct involving 21 women.

Speaking after a hearing found Det Insp Simon Hurwood committed gross misconduct in targeting more than 20 women over 15 years, Cleveland Police Chief Constable Mike Veale said:

Peter Harris
BBC Look North

The panel said Hurwood's victims were usually younger than him - sometimes decades younger - and junior to him.

After becoming an Inspector in Cleveland's Professional Standards Department in 2014, he treated it as a "personal recruitment centre" for his own sexual gratification.

Towards the end of his time there had been "unfettered pursuit of young women" and he was "out of control", it said.

Panel chairman Simon Mallett said Hurwood was doing this while in a department meant to ensure standards were maintained, rather than breach them.

His behaviour amounted to "grooming over time".

It ranged from harassment, to coercive control and actual assaults, and he deliberately targeted and took advantage of vulnerable women.

A police inspector who targeted "vulnerable" female colleagues for sex committed gross misconduct, a hearing has ruled.

Det Insp Simon Hurwood sent thousands of messages to 21 women over 15 years, the Cleveland Police misconduct hearing was told.

The hearing in Middlesbrough upheld eight allegations of gross misconduct and eight more of misconduct.

He had denied any wrongdoing, but retired from the force with whom he had served for 27 years.

Cleveland Police said he used "coercive behaviour" and targeted women who were having personal difficulties. Four of the cases developed into full sexual contact, the hearing in Middlesbrough was told.

Image source, Gazette

Cleveland Police Chief Constable Mike Veale said after the conclusion: “For more than a decade he acted shamefully and was confronted thanks to a brave individual coming forward and blowing the whistle on him.

"They had the trust and confidence in our Counter Corruption Unit, they believed the team would take their claims seriously, they would be listened to and we would act upon the information they gave us.

"We did not let them down. My team has honoured their anonymity. We do not know who this individual is, they used our confidential internal email system, but I want to thank them on behalf of every right minded colleague who works in Cleveland Police. I’m proud of you, you did a brave and honourable thing and most importantly you did the right thing."

A panel investigating claims a Cleveland Police officer groomed junion colleagues for his own sexual gratification, is due to give a ruling later.

Former Det Insp Simon Hurwood, who resigned from Cleveland Police inSeptember, was accused of targeting 21 women at the force over 14 years.

He was said by one accuser to have coerced her into performing a sex act on him in police vehicles and at a police station.

Image source, Gazette

Another claimed he persuaded her to have sex with him in an office while they were on duty.

A disciplinary hearing in Middlesbrough earlier this week was told he was obsessed with the colour of female colleague's underwear.

Mr Hurwood was arrested, but not charged with any offence.

He was not represented nor present at the hearing and denies gross misconduct.

BBC Tees

Cleveland Police has issued an urgent appeal for a missing man who they have described as "highly vulnerable".

Brendan Godfrey, 45, may be in the Roseworth area of Stockton, the force said.

A spokeswoman added: "We are very concerned for his welfare."

Image source, Cleveland Police

The defender made the claim in an interview that resurfaced as part of a Halloween retrospective.

Amy Dixon says her daughters, aged two and five, were given the tablets while collecting sweets.

Colin Briggs
Look North

Drivers in Gateshead are being warned to stay out of bus lanes or they could face a fine.

Cameras are being switched on from today on the Felling by-pass, Prince Consort Road, at its junction with the A184 Askew Road and the A694 between Winlaton Mill and Swalwell roundabout.

For the next fortnight anyone caught in the lanes will get a warning letter.

But from mid November, they will be fined £60.

Businesses on the Yorkshire coast are being asked if they would be willing to pay more money to try and attract more people to the area.

Image source, Richard Wood

The month-long poll is asking more than 1,000 businesses if they would be prepared to pay a levy to support a Business Improvement District (BID), which would stretch from Spurn in the south, to Staithes in the north.

The organisation behind the plans says it would cost the average small business around £300 a year, and could raise up to £5m in five years to be reinvested in the area.

Mo Aswat from the Yorkshire Coast Business Improvement District said: "It's about increasing the profile of the area and making sure the identity of the Yorkshire Coast and the attractions are promoted as well as they can be."