Ten Greater Manchester Police staff members have been sacked as part of a major force investigation into 'non-legitimate' contact with sex workers. The Manchester Evening News understands more dismissals could follow as the inquiry continues.
Investigation Triggered by Inspector Toby Knight Case
The force's Anti-Corruption Unit's investigation was triggered by the case of Inspector Toby Knight. The disgraced cop scheduled hundreds of meetings with sex workers on his force-issued phone, including some while he was on duty. After serving nearly 30 years with GMP, Knight retired in May 2025, the day before a gross misconduct hearing concluded that had he still been serving he would have been dismissed without notice.
In December, when the M.E.N. broke the story, the force said eight police officers - including a Superintendent who had been suspended - and two staff members were under investigation. Knight and two staff members had already been dismissed. The two sacked civilian staff members have not been named.
Superintendent Dismissed in February
The Superintendent was consequently dismissed in February. Members of the press were not allowed to attend the private hearing. The Manchester Evening News understands the officer resigned before the hearing, which was heard in his absence. The hearing concluded that had he still been serving, the superintendent would have been dismissed for gross misconduct. The force said there were legitimate reasons for not naming the officer.
Further Dismissals in Recent Months
This month three more police officers were sacked as part of the same investigation. This week another officer, PC Michael Jones, was dismissed. A hearing was told on various dates between May 23, 2020, and April 14, 2021, whilst on duty, PC Jones was alleged to have repeatedly exchanged messages of a sexual nature with females on his personal mobile phone. It was also alleged that on two dates in 2020 and 2021 PC Jones engaged in sexual conduct in public; on three occasions in 2020 whilst on duty, PC Jones contacted escort services about arranging for paid-for sexual encounters, and on May 3, 2021 whilst on duty, spent three hours and 20 minutes engaged in searching the internet and viewing inappropriate, non-work-related websites.
These matters allegedly breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in relation to honesty and integrity, discreditable conduct, duties and responsibilities and authority, respect and courtesy. His actions, the hearing was told, amounted to gross misconduct.
Former Sergeant Barred from Profession
Last week a former sergeant who contacted sex workers more than 140 times for 'non-policing purposes' was barred from the profession. Ex-police sergeant David Keir contacted 16 different sex workers, by phone call or text, using his GMP-issued phone while off-duty. He was one of two GMP officers to face misconduct proceedings last week, having admitted contacting sex workers for non-policing purposes. Separately, police constable Kabir Hayat was found to have contacted six sex workers a total of 52 times over the course of one day.
An accelerated misconduct hearing before Lee Rawlinson MBE, chief resources officer at GMP, last Thursday heard how Mr Keir engaged with adult sex workers 142 times between February 7, 2019, and August 27, 2024 for 'non-policing purposes'.
Leading the hearing of PC Hayat, GMP chief constable Sir Stephen Watson said PC Hayat's behaviour was 'deliberate and unforced'. He said the officer had accepted responsibility for his actions and that they amounted to gross misconduct, although he 'has no memory of the events'. Mr Hayat was said to be 'genuinely sorry for the distress caused' and that his misconduct 'does not represent his true value set'. But Chief Constable Watson went on to describe his behaviour as a 'catastrophic misjudgement and a failure to sustain the required personal discipline for a police officer'.
Sergeant Resigned in March
In March an experienced sergeant had resigned in disgrace after an internal investigation found he had contacted 34 adult sex workers on 170 occasions between September 2018 and September 2025. Some 25 of those contacts were while he was on duty. “He contacted sex workers from a work mobile phone for no policing purpose,” Anna Semprini, on behalf of GMP, told the hearing. “He knew or ought to have known that using sex workers is incompatible with the role of a police officer,” she added.
The former officer, who resigned from the force on March 22 this year, failed to show up at the hearing and did not provide a formal response to the allegations. However, he provided a statement to the hearing via the Police Federation. In it, the officer said he ‘fully accepts (my) error of judgment’ and ‘takes responsibility for (my) actions’. He also put forward ‘personal mitigation’ although this was not described at the hearing. Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker, who chaired the ‘accelerated misconduct hearing’, dismissed the M.E.N’s application to lift the anonymity order concerning the accused officer.
Probationer PC Resigned
Also in March a police constable resigned from Greater Manchester Police in disgrace after the investigation found he was bombarding sex workers with calls. The cop, who claimed he never actually 'followed through' and met the sex workers, was also allowed anonymity despite an appeal by the M.E.N. for him to be named. After joining GMP in September 2022, the officer made 914 'outgoing communications', many of them while he was still a 'probationer', between January 1, 2023, and March 31, 2025, on his GMP-issue device. But a disciplinary hearing was told more than a third - 335 calls - were to adult sex workers. Most calls were made while he was off duty but 29 of them were while he was on duty. The PC did not appear at the hearing on March 23rd which concluded he would have been sacked had he not resigned three days earlier.
The disciplinary hearing was told that although the officer had not provided a formal response, he had made 'admissions' to investigators during interviews. In those admissions the unnamed cop said he 'fully accepts' he was contacting sex workers on his GMP phone but he denied he was arranging 'for their services'. The cop said 'the reality' was that he was simply looking 'for attention'. He admitted he would 'arrange to meet them' but then 'never follow through' with the planned rendezvous.
Bosses Say Actions Not Linked
Bosses do not believe the alleged actions of those sacked or under investigation are linked, other than by the nature of their alleged behaviour. Detective Superintendent Simon Hurst, the head of GMP's Anti-Corruption Unit, said in December: "The unit is currently investigating non-legitimate contact with adult sex workers and as a consequence a GMP Superintendent was suspended in September 2025 and is currently under investigation for having non-legitimate contact with sex workers."
"The majority of contacts with sex workers are for safeguarding and investigative purposes. The force does a lot of work with sex workers to keep them safe in what can be a very vulnerable environment. However we won't stand for people making contact for no legitimate policing purpose, which is where the skill of our investigators and the ACU comes to bear in working out a legitimate and non-legitimate contact, which is a massive piece of work."
"Anyone found guilty of making non-legitimate contact will have let the public down, and it betrays the work of the vast majority of our officers and staff who use their roles as a force for good to work with women and girls to keep them safe."
"The National Police Chiefs' Council guidance as of January 2024 clearly states the use of sex workers is now incompatible with the role of a police officer or police staff member. That is a line in the sand which makes it unequivocally clear. It can be online interactions and telephone interactions if it is for the purpose of sex."
DS Hurst added: "We have gone from being reactive to intelligence about a corrupt cop to now looking under stones. This proactive investigation is on the back of the case of former Inspector Toby Knight who was dismissed by GMP. It must be stated that the staff we are looking at represent a very small minority of the overall officers. The vast majority are utterly professional and diligent."
"GMP is leading the way in force anti-corruption and this will enforce our determination to root out and boot out and uphold the very best standards. This investigation does not stop and any officer behaving in this way will be found. It is part of a wider approach to root out those whose standards are not for policing."
"The investigation into Toby Knight revealed an opportunity to look much wider than the behaviour by him and be proactive. The way in which we have done it remains covert at this time."
GMP says it is committed to working with partners to safeguard sex workers, including taking part in the Manchester Sex Work Forum attended by Superintendent Nicola Williams and instructing neighbourhood officers to build trust and provide protection in a vulnerable environment.
