Sexting PCSO barred from policing for pursuing 'inappropriate relationships with women'

A former PCSO who pursued inappropriate relationships with women he met while working for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has been barred from policing.

In June Mark Turner, 38, was convicted and fined for abusing police computers. Now Turner - who spent four years suspended on full pay - has been barred from policing following a force disciplinary hearing and two independent probes into his conduct.

Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link

His court trial earlier this year heard Turner checked records of a domestic violence call out for a woman he had previously met while on the beat. The pair exchanged sexually charged messages. He checked police files for her.

Preston Crown Court heard that in 2018 married Turner embarked on a sexting relationship with a woman he met while investigating a theft from her place of work, in Marple, Stockport.

The messages between the pair 'made the most racy Carry On film look like Songs of Praise', the court heard.

During the trial, Turner described himself as 'your friendly neighbourhood beat bobby'. But sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: "The text messages behind that give a very different image indeed.

"You allowed yourself to get into an utterly disgraceful relationship with a woman who herself should have known better. This occupied a not inconsiderable amount of your mind, which should have been devoted to supporting your community, which was your role."

After hearing details of the salacious text affair, much of which was conducted while Turner was on duty, the jury at Preston Crown Court took less than two hours to unanimously find Turner guilty of misusing police computers.

He was handed a £2,000 fine and ordered to pay £2,000