Police sergeant who took explicit images of himself sacked

A hearing took place at the Nottinghamshire Police headquarters

A police sergeant has been sacked for taking sexually-explicit pictures of himself while he was on duty.

Nottinghamshire Police said Sgt Simon Spooner exposed himself twice in a police station to take the images.

The officer also used his phone to send messages that contained misogynistic language, the force said.

Sgt Spooner said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" by his actions when he appeared at a misconduct hearing on Wednesday.

He admitted three breaches of professional standards and accepted his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

The hearing was told Sgt Spooner took the pictures, while alone in the police station, before sending them to a woman he was in a relationship with on 9 September 2018 and 11 December 2018.

He also sent the same woman WhatsApp messages containing "multiple examples of sexist language".

'Grave lack of judgement'

The force said Sgt Spooner also made misogynistic remarks about female Nottinghamshire Police officers in a series of texts between September 2020 and April 2022.

Disciplinary action was launched after his actions were discovered by the force's professional standards directorate.

Sgt Spooner told the hearing - held at the force's headquarters - that he had shown a "grave lack of judgement".

He expressed remorse and apologised for "letting myself, the police and the communities I serve down".

Chief Constable Rob Nixon, of neighbouring Leicestershire Police, chaired the hearing and acknowledged Sgt Spooner's candour and his "exceptional" service over more than 20 years.

However, he ruled the officer should be dismissed without notice because his behaviour was "likely to undermine public confidence in policing and damage the reputation of the police service".