A notice on the Lancashire Constabulary website has signalled the end of a process that began in early 2009, when one of their former senior officers downloaded images of young boys as young as eight years old.
It is alleged by the Constabulary’s Appropriate Authority that, being a police officer with the force, former Chief Inspector 466 Steven Sansbury (pictured above at the conclusion of a knife amnesty) has breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour set out in Schedule 2 to the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020.
Former Chief Inspector 466 Sansbury was charged with two offences of making an indecent image of a child contrary to S1(1) a, and 6 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 and pleaded guilty to the offences. He was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order, involving 80 hours of unpaid work, and a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement. Sansbury will remain on the sex offenders’ register for five years.
The matters aforesaid, say Lancashire Constabulary, amount to gross misconduct and to a breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour of Discreditable Conduct.
The hearing will be chaired by soon-to-retire chief constable, Chris Rowley. The other Panel members have not been named.
The criminal proceedings against ex-CI Sansbury concluded in November, 2023. The images were discovered in January, 2021. He was allowed to retire from his £62,000 pa job on full pension when the internal investigation began.
The force has not provided an explanation for the delay in bringing the disciplinary proceedings to a close.
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Page last updated: Thursday 15th February, 2024 at 0835 hours
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Picture credit: Lancashire Constabulary
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