A former Greater Manchester Police inspector has died after falling from a motorway bridge, following a misconduct case over sexist messages. Jonathan Ezard, known as Jon, resigned from the force last year before a hearing into allegations that he sent 'misogynistic, degrading and disrespectful' messages about a female colleague and shared images of her with a former colleague.
Mr Ezard, who would have faced dismissal had he not resigned, died after falling from Barton Bridge over the M60 in Salford on March 31. The circumstances are not thought to be suspicious. An inquest is expected to open in due course.
His family expressed anger at the force's handling of his case, saying the misconduct allegation 'utterly devastated him' and that his appeal was never given a date. Former colleagues also criticised the force, with one saying he fell 'foul of today's increasingly imbalanced misconduct and cut throat dismissal system'.
Mr Ezard had been a key part of Operation Venture, tackling violence and knife crime, and received several awards. He had recently been made redundant from a job at Amazon after leaving the police. GMP said it was 'deeply saddened' by his death.
