A police officer has been sacked for gross misconduct after admitting sending an offensive image of himself to a woman colleague.
PC James Spencer, based in the Crime Recording and Occurrence Management Unit in York, sent an unsolicited photograph of his penis to another officer.
It happened on 10 September 2023 while he was off duty.
Spencer admitted breaching standards of professional behaviour, and that his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, at an accelerated misconduct hearing at North Yorkshire Police’s HQ in Northallerton yesterday (Thursday).
The hearing was told that the victim, referred to as Miss A, was “made to feel very uncomfortable” by receipt of the photograph which “undoubtedly caused her distress”.
Chief Constable Tim Forber dismissed Mr Spencer with immediate effect and he will now be placed on the College of Policing’s police barred list.
In his conclusion, Ch Con Forber said: “The officer’s conduct was deliberate.
“He was not made to send the image, nor could he have been in any doubt that it was unwanted given Miss A’s rejection of his offer to send it.
“He sent it with ‘view once’ enabled which demonstrates his intention to avoid being detected.”
The Chief Constable said: “North Yorkshire Police treats violence against women and girls and sexual impropriety by police officers with the utmost seriousness.
“We are determined to tackle these issues, and the actions of PC Spencer significantly undermine our ability to do so, and public trust and confidence in policing generally. It is completely contrary to the standards that I expect from officers in this force.”
In mitigation, Spencer said his diabetes, alcohol, and other personal circumstances had contributed to his actions.
Ch Con Forber accepted that this was a one-off, that Spencer had apologised to the victim, owned up to what he had done and was genuinely remorseful.
But he added: “While the officer’s open admissions, apology and remorse are to his credit, I do not consider that any of these matters significantly reduces the officer’s culpability, given the wholly unacceptable nature of this misconduct.”
Spencer, who was suspended from duty during the investigation, has the right to appeal.