Former officer barred from policing following misconduct hearing

A former officer who abused his position by pursuing improper relationships with two women he met through his work will never be able to serve in policing again.

Gross misconduct was found to be proven against former DC Simon Jones following a hearing held at Police Headquarters in Portishead this week.

A panel led by a Legally Qualified Chair, who is independent of policing, ruled that former DC Jones would have been dismissed without notice, had he not already retired.

In early 2017, former DC Jones was asked to investigate an assault on a teenage child. Due to the victim’s age, the boy’s mother was the point of contact for the officer in the case to update as the investigation progressed.

The panel was told the content of the messages between the pair developed from being professional to personal, leading to him engaging in an inappropriate relationship with her while the criminal investigation continued.

The pair continued to message each other after the inquiries concluded, with there being no policing purpose for doing so. They went on to have a relationship for several years.

In late 2019, former DC Jones was assigned to investigate an allegation of crime, involving a female victim.

It was alleged the contact between the pair crossed from being professional to personal within a couple of months of the investigation beginning.

We were notified of an anonymous report in August 2020 that former DC Jones was engaging in a relationship with a ‘victim of crime’.

His work mobile phone billing was reviewed and a very large amount of contact with the woman was found, which continued after the criminal investigation had concluded, when again there was not a policing purpose to him to continue to contact her.

Former DC Jones denied there was anything more than shared interests between them, when challenged about it during an ethical interview in September 2020. He was advised not to have any further contact with the woman and to notify a more senior officer if she attempted to contact him.

The following month, former DC Jones sent an email to the Professional Standards Department in which he said he had adhered to the advice given, which he knew not to be true.

In November 2020, we received information about the previous relationship former DC Jones had been involved in with the mother he first met in 2017.

A mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) was subsequently made due to the nature of the allegations. We were instructed to carry out criminal and misconduct investigations under the direction of the IOPC.

During those inquiries, former DC Jones’ electronic devices were searched, where the nature of his relationships with both women was revealed.

A file was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service under the IOPC’s direction, who deemed there to be insufficient evidence to seek any criminal charges. However, misconduct proceedings against the former officer continued, culminating in this week’s hearing.

The panel ruled former DC Jones had abused his position as a police officer by establishing and/or pursuing an improper sexual and/or emotional relationship with two members of the public with whom he came into contact within the course of his duties.

In addition, they found former DC Jones had misled the Counter Corruption Unit about the existence or nature of the relationship with the second woman.

The panel concluded former DC Jones breached three standards of professional behaviour, namely honesty and integrity; authority, respect and courtesy; as well as discreditable conduct.

There was no suggestion raised that the criminal investigations carried out by former DC Jones were affected by his relationship with either woman.

Former DC Jones was already on the barred list following a separate misconduct hearing held in April 2024 in relation to discriminatory messages he sent about two colleagues of Black heritage in 2020. These messages had come to light during the CCU investigation into his inappropriate relationships with the two women.

Superintendent Mark Edgington, head of the Professional Standards Department, said: “There is no place in policing, or any law enforcement agency, for anyone who behaves in the way Simon Jones did.

“One of the women he sought a relationship with was a mother whose child had been assaulted and the other was reporting being a victim of crime.

“Regardless of whether either woman at the time saw themselves as vulnerable, both of them had turned to the police for help. Any police officer should recognise it would be wholly wrong to seek any personal relationship with a member of the public in such circumstances, especially while conducting a criminal investigation relating directly to that person or their family.

“Former DC Jones was an officer with more than 20 years’ experience and it is abundantly clear he knew what he was doing was wrong.

“He was deliberately dishonest when challenged and sought to cover his tracks by several means, when he feared the truth would be revealed.

“We are grateful to those people who supplied information because it enabled us to not only take misconduct action against him for these matters, but also revealed abhorrent messages he sent about colleagues.

“We hope this outcome reassures the public we will take positive action to remove any officer who behaves in such an inappropriate manner.”

The full outcome of the hearing will be added to the misconduct page of our website in due course.