Police officer sacked over pictures he took in the gym

A POLICE officer has been sacked for taking covert pictures in a gym and sending members extreme unsolicited messages.

- CONOR GOGARTY Investigations editor

The South Wales Police officer whose name and rank are being kept secret by the force set up an Instagram account under an alias and used it to bombard gym-goers with explicit messages.

The officer's "predatory" behaviour took place in 2023 when he was a member of the gym in South Wales.

He did not personally know the two members he targeted, who were called Mr A and Mr B in the police misconduct hearing.

The only reasons given by South Wales Police for his anonymity are "the embarrassing nature" of the case and how naming him could have an "adverse impact" on him and his family.

In early 2023 Mr A began to receive explicit messages from an Instagram account under the name Laurence Hendix.

In August that year Mr B received messages from the same account.

On September 21 the officer took two photos of Mr A exercising at the gym without his knowledge and sent it to him using the Laurence Hendix alias.

The gym manager then reported to police that members and staff at the gym had been receiving unsolicited messages from the account.