Officer blamed stranger for sex worker contacts

A Leicestershire Police officer has claimed their phone was used to contact sex workers after letting someone they did not know borrow it on a night out.

A gross misconduct hearing at Leicestershire Police's headquarters in Enderby on Wednesday heard a police officer was accused of attempting to contact sex workers and being dishonest.

Despite an application by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, hearing chair Julia Debenham ruled the officer would remain anonymous.

The officer is the third Leicestershire Police officer to face a misconduct hearing over contact with sex workers in less than two months - all have been granted anonymity, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The panel heard the officer, who joined the force in 2004, had six traces of contact with numbers linked to sex workers on his phone, including WhatsApp conversations.

Many were connected to websites used to advertise sexual services, the hearing heard.

Liz Briggs, representing the appropriate authority, said the officer was "experienced" and would have understood the rules around contacting sex workers and the vulnerabilities associated with the trade.

The hearing was told calls were made to three sex worker contacts shortly after midnight on 8 December 2024. Further calls were made just after 02:00 GMT to three other numbers linked to sex workers but not saved in the officer's phone.

When questioned, the officer said they had unlocked the phone and "handed it to an individual they did not know" to use during a night out.

The panel also heard group chat messages suggested locations should be deleted from the officer's maps app.

Briggs said the officer, who is no longer employed by Leicestershire Police, had given a "false and dishonest" account of events.

She said: "It is the appropriate authority's view that any engagement with sex workers is incompatible with being a police officer.

"It is a clear indication of someone who has tried to procure sexual services."

The officer did not attend the hearing and did not present evidence in response to the allegations.

Representing the officer, Police Federation official Andy Spence said WhatsApp chats linked to sex workers showed no messages had been exchanged after the conversations were opened.

He said it was the officer's case that the chats had been accessed but not used.

The panel adjourned to consider whether misconduct or gross misconduct had occurred. The hearing continues.

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