PC Michael Jones, a former officer with Greater Manchester Police (GMP), resigned in disgrace after a disciplinary panel found he engaged in gross misconduct by sending sexually explicit messages while on duty, meeting women for sex, and browsing dating websites during work hours. The panel concluded that had he not resigned, he would have been dismissed without notice.
Details of Misconduct
The disciplinary hearing on June 11, 2024, revealed that PC Jones exchanged hundreds of messages with contacts labeled 'F1', 'S', 'Workchat', 'Sarah Work', and 'Sandy', discussing fantasies such as spanking in public and BDSM. On May 23, 2020, after clocking in for duty, he sent 16 messages to 'Workchat' about sexual fantasies. A week later, he sent 35 messages within 11 minutes of starting his shift, discussing meeting for sex. On June 7, 2020, he sent 31 messages about meeting in a public place; they met in a car park the next morning and engaged in sexual activity, the panel found.
On June 9, 2020, PC Jones sent 28 messages while on duty about submissive sexual activity and pornography, and 42 messages to 'S' about sex. On December 13, 2020, he messaged 'S' 20 times to discuss kinks and 'F1' 45 times about BDSM and sexual fantasy. On April 13, 2021, he sent 'F1' 26 messages while she portrayed a child, discussing a fantasy of playing 'daddy' while spanking his 'princess' in public.
Illicit Encounters and Online Activity
PC Jones managed a one-hour rendezvous with 'F1' that ended ten minutes before a 1pm police training course. He denied any sexual activity occurred, but the panel ruled a sexual encounter took place. He also messaged escort services while on duty, telling one escort she could get 'filming work' and discussing BDSM activities. On May 3, 2021, he spent 3 hours and 20 minutes browsing dating and hook-up websites such as fabguys.com and spankthishookups.com while on duty.
He denied having sexual activity outdoors or intending to meet escorts, claiming he felt 'unsupported' and that his activities did not affect his role. The panel, led by Assistant Chief Officer Dougie Henderson, found his conduct 'very serious' with aggravating factors including intentional, premeditated, targeted actions for his own sexual gratification and significant deviation from instructions.
Outcome and Barring
The judgment stated: "The panel carefully considered the most appropriate outcome... considered that the proven conduct was so serious that a final written warning would not have met the purpose of the misconduct regime." PC Jones was added to the Royal College of Policing 'Barred List', preventing him from returning to any policing role. He is among 10 GMP officers who left the force for contacting sex workers without a legitimate policing purpose, following the case of Inspector Toby Knight who scheduled hundreds of meetings with sex workers on his force-issued phone.
