Hastings police officer sent sexual photos of himself while on duty

Detective Constable Damien Cotgreave sent hundreds of messages to 12 women while on duty over a period of three months between December 2019 and February 2020.

A disciplinary hearing, held on Monday, heard 45-year-old Mr Cotgreave sent the women pornographic pictures of himself and, on one occasion, visited one of the women at her home for approximately two hours while he was meant to be working and massaged her back under her clothing. The former officer accepted he attended the woman’s address while on duty but denied giving her a massage.

Mr Cotgreave, who was not in attendance at his disciplinary hearing on Monday, resigned from Sussex Police in October 2020 after seven years with the force, in which he worked in a unit which tackled organised crime and drugs.

The hearing’s panel found 18 out of the 20 gross misconduct charges against Mr Cotgreave were proven. Mr Cotgreave had previously accepted 16 of the allegations against him.

The allegations included inappropriate messages to one woman who suffered mental health problems and messages of a sexual nature to an 18-year-old woman.

Louisa Ravenscroft, bringing the allegations, said the conduct ‘distracted’ Mr Cotgreave from his duties.

Nicola Talbot-Hadley, the panel’s chairman, concluded Mr Cotgreave’s behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and would have seen him dismissed from the force had he not previously resigned.

Mr Cotgreave was told he would be banned from ever serving in the police again.

He becomes the third police officer from Hastings police station to face allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour in the last two months.

DS Paul Elrick was given a final written warning in November after he sent inappropriate messages to a colleague and ‘pinged a ruler across her buttocks’.

He admitted misconduct but a panel found his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

And in December, police sergeant Rob Adams was also given a final written warning after sending inappropriate messages about colleagues and superimposing a female officer’s face onto a pornographic picture of a naked woman.

His behaviour was also found to have amounted to gross misconduct by a disciplinary hearing panel.