Sussex Police inspector sacked over calls to prostitutes

Insp Lee Lyons is due to face 21 allegations of breaching professional standards

A senior police officer who contacted prostitutes while on duty has been sacked following a misconduct hearing.

Inspector Lee Lyons, of Sussex Police, arranged a location and fee for one woman, "Natalie's", services for after his shift ended.

He also used his personal phone at work to make 23 calls to 11 prostitutes in an hour on 23 July.

Mr Lyons, accepted all 21 allegations against him, the disciplinary hearing was told.

He did not attend the seven-minute hearing in front of Chief Constable Giles York at Sussex Police HQ in Lewes.

Mr Lyons, 40, who was based in Hastings, was a critical incident inspector at the time of making the calls and text messages on his police BlackBerry.

Accepted allegations

Mr York said the scale and harm of Mr Lyons' behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and that he had breached the boundaries between professional and personal life, even after management intervention.

No mitigating factors were offered on his behalf by Insp Matt Webb, chairman of Sussex Police Federation.

Seven-year-old Mary Shipstone died in hospital the day after being shot by her father in Northiam

Among the allegations against Mr Lyons were that, on 11 September 2014, he posted details on Facebook about the shooting of a seven-year-old girl by her father.

Mary Shipstone was gunned down by Yasser Alromisse in Northiam earlier that day as she returned from school. His body was found in a car parked on a driveway next to Mary's home.

Mr Lyons was alleged to have discussed the suspension of a number of officers at Hastings in March 2014 with a BBC producer, and to have discussed a "baddie vs baddie stabbing" in September 2014.

He was also said to have maintained a relationship with a local reporter since May 2012 and with whom he shared information about a number of cases.

After the hearing, Deputy Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney said: "Lyons was passing on information that was operationally sensitive and may well have affected victims or their families or may have had a negative impact on community tension."

The Crown Prosecution Service has decided no criminal charges are to be brought against Mr Lyons, who was suspended from duty on 2 October 2014.