A Cheshire police officer has been dismissed without notice after a misconduct hearing found he exchanged sexually explicit messages while on duty, accessed pornography during working hours and abused his position to pursue a sexual relationship.

Former PC Anthony Spelman, also known as Tony, was found to have committed gross misconduct following a hearing on 28 April 2026.

The findings detailed highly sexualised exchanges with 12 women between April and September 2023. On some occasions, Spelman exchanged as many as 90 messages in a single day while working as a police officer.

He also accessed pornography on his personal mobile phone during working hours and discussed rape role-play fantasies in messages sent while on duty.

Officer pursued woman whose son he had arrested

The misconduct hearing found that Spelman recognised the mother of a man he had previously arrested while using a dating app.

He subsequently pursued contact with the woman and began a sexual relationship with her.

Chief Constable Mark Roberts concluded that the officer had abused his position for personal gratification.

He described the conduct as “abusing his position as a police officer for a sexual purpose”.

The chief constable also found that the volume and frequency of Spelman’s sexual messages were incompatible with properly carrying out his policing duties.

Barred from policing profession

Spelman did not contest the allegations against him.

Deputy Chief Constable Mike Evans said the former officer’s behaviour fell well below the standards expected of police officers.

He confirmed that Spelman had been dismissed without notice and barred from returning to the policing profession.

The case highlights the standards of professional conduct expected of police officers, particularly regarding their responsibilities while on duty and the proper use of their position.