Meet the police officers accused of putting the sex into Sussex

Maybe it’s the seaside air. Police in Sussex, home to Brighton and its famed ‘dirty weekends’, is beset by a series of sexual scandals that would make the vice squad blush.

A married chief inspector is the latest Sussex officer to be investigated over claims that he had sex while on duty with a colleague.

Ch Insp Rob Leet and Sgt Sarah Porter are facing a gross misconduct inquiry by Sussex Police’s professional standards department after unsubstantiated rumours began circulating of an affair.

It is understood that one of the claims being investigated is that Ch Insp Leet and Sgt Porter ‘manufactured’ a reason to meet each other at a police station, enabling them to be there at the same time. But there is no evidence that sex took place 

Ch Insp Leet, a father of four, said on Tuesday that the claims were ‘unfounded’ and that his wife of 22 years was standing by him.

Sgt Porter is understood to have left her husband Nick and the family home earlier this year.

Last night a source said Sgt Porter had been having an affair for more than 18 months.

He said: “They met at work in April 2015 and began a relationship that August. They did meet clandestinely in police cars which they would drive to lay-bys and in police stations and they did have sexual activity.”

The news of the official inquiry comes just a week after another Sussex police inspector Tony Lumb, who was based in Brighton, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he had had sex with women he met while on duty. Insp Lumb has been suspended while the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigates. 

A third officer, Pc Mark Scruby, 37, below left, was sacked last month after he sent an image of a porn star to his female boss suggesting that she looked like her. PC Scruby ‘repeatedly’ shared the sexually explicit image with colleagues in the canteen at Crawley police station before sending it to Det Sgt Isobel Lee, below right, telling her there was a resemblance.

A fourth Sussex officer, Pc Daniel Moss, 41, who was based in the seaside resort of Hastings, was dismissed two days before Christmas for working as a male prostitute while at the same time claiming to be off work on sick leave. Pc Moss was alleged to have been charging £210 an hour on an internet site for sex. The services of his partner Tracey Perryman, 38, were thrown in with the price.

In a statement, Sussex Police said of the allegations against Ch Insp Leet and Sgt Porter, who works in traffic police: “Sussex Police professional standards department is in the early stages of a gross misconduct investigation following an allegation of on-duty sexual activity between two serving officers. Neither of the officers have been suspended.”

 But the Police Federation, which is representing Ch Insp Leet and Sgt Porter, said there was no evidence the pair had had sex and that they were victims of false rumours. The federation pointed out that the existence of the inquiry had been leaked to the local newspaper.

Insp Matt Webb, the chairman of the Sussex Police Federation, said: “I am told by the investigators that at this time there has been no evidence found that supports the original allegation and the investigation is looking a great deal less serious than it did. There may be some low-level misconduct that is identified, and that will be dealt with in the usual way.”

 Insp  Webb added: “The fact that this information has been given to the local press at such an early stage when there is no indication of guilt has had significant impact on the officers and their families. This impact is disproportionate to the matter being investigated.”

 Ch Insp Leet, 43, told The Telegraph: “I stand by what the Police Federation are saying. I won’t be making a separate statement, but there is nothing in this at all. The allegation is unfounded.”

Ch Insp Leet was until recently the borough commander in charge of policing in Lewes and Wealden districts of Sussex. But he had moved jobs in recent weeks after the division was merged with nearby Eastbourne. There is no suggestion his change of role is linked to the current inquiry.

The alleged shenanigans in Sussex may or may not be raising eyebrows, but the good news for citizens protected by the South Coast force is it does not appear to be having any effect on their safety.

The sap may (or may not) be rising among Sussex police officers, but total crime levels have dropped steadily in the six months from July 2016 to December 2016, from 13,298 to 11,164.