A former Cheshire Police constable was dismissed after a misconduct hearing found he shared rape fantasies and sexual messages with women while on duty, and began a relationship with a woman whose son he had arrested. Anthony Spelman, known as Tony, was sacked earlier this year following an accelerated misconduct hearing held in private on April 28.
Sexual messages and relationship with arrestee's mother
Chief Constable Mark Roberts said in his misconduct report that Spelman had shared sexual messages with two women who knew he was a police officer, raising his fantasies about rape. It was also proven that he commenced a sexual relationship with a woman whose son he had arrested, thereby "abusing his position as a police officer for a sexual purpose."
Spelman recognized the woman on a dating site from his previous contact with her, then sexually messaged her, met up with her, and engaged in sexual activity with her. The report noted he engaged in "highly sexualised" exchanges with 12 women between April and September 2023, sending and receiving as many as 90 messages a day.
Preoccupation with sexual matters while on duty
The messages revealed a "preoccupation with your own sexual matters in the workplace," with the exchanges taking place while he was on duty. Chief Constable Roberts said it would be "impossible to be diligently discharging your policing duties" given the frequency of messages with the dozen women. A further proven allegation stated Spelman accessed pornography on his personal mobile phone while on duty.
Spelman did not present any mitigation to the allegations. Chief Constable Roberts said his length of service and role made the behaviour "all the more shocking," concluding it amounted to gross misconduct resulting in dismissal without notice.
Consequences and response from the constabulary
The report stated: "I have started by assessing the seriousness of the conduct – it seems to me that PC Spelman was completely fixated on establishing new sexual partners with multiple females when he ought to have been on duty, and of course this is a serious matter, as such behaviour is incompatible with the discharge of his duties."
Deputy Chief Constable Mike Evans said: "Before beginning their careers, police officers swear an oath to act with honesty, integrity and to promise to abide by the clear guidelines about the standards expected from all of our operational staff. Sadly, former PC Spelman ignored these core guidelines and principles on a number of occasions and thought he could act in such an unacceptable way without consequence - he was wrong."
Evans added: "Spelman’s actions fell well below what is expected of our officers and his actions have now resulted in him being dismissed from Cheshire Constabulary and barred from re-entering the profession. His actions do not reflect what the constabulary stands for and anyone found breaching the principles and guidelines we are proud to uphold across the force, will face similar consequences."
